They Are Gutting a Body of Water have been one of the most crucial American shoegaze bands over the past decade, from the DIY neo-shoegaze hotbed of Philadelphia. Douglas Dulgarian began making noise as TAGABOW in 2017, playing house shows and releasing early cassettes like 2017’s Sweater Curse . But the TAGABOW project came together as a flesh-and-blood band with bassist Emily Lofing, drummer Ben Opatut, and guitarist PJ Carroll. Their new LOTTO is their most intensely emotional noise yet, a showdown with addiction and disease and death. It’s an exorcism of an album — heavier than heaven, hotter than hell, bold as love.

Once dismissed as a Nineties fad, shoegaze has never stopped mutating and expanding as a musical language. Pioneers like My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and Slowdive are

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