When an act is playing the Coachella and Ultra festivals and sells out venues across the country just by word of mouth, it’s a good indication that they are worth paying attention to. That’s exactly what LA-based DJ trio The Glitch Mob has done, garnering rave reviews from the likes of the LA Times and XLR8R, and recently releasing a single (Drive It Like You Stole It) that became the third most blogged about and most tweeted track per the Hype Machine within 24 hours.

The electronic trio’s debut album, Drink the Sea, is an important artistic departure from previous Glitch Mob works, such as remixes of TV on the Radio and Krazy Balhead, and their previous mixtape, "Crush Mode". The album combines many of the three previously established DJ’s diverse influences, from drum-and-bass to ambient to experimental to club music. A recent XLR8R article recently observed the group’s, "willingness to take risks and a fierce determination to steer clear of classification… [The Glitch Mob is] tearing up dancefloors and confusing the hell out of anyone trying to put a label on their music."

The assessment is spot on. "Drink the Sea" plays like the club’s version of Dark Side of the Moon, atmospheric and experimental, yet incredibly rhythmic and percussive. Member Josh Mayer adds, "It’s definitely not just a collection of random club bangers." It’s the kind of album that you can enjoy equally on the dancefloor and sitting in a room with headphones on.

The Glitch Mob’s sense of experimentalism is in part due to the scene from which they hail. Justin Boreta, who got his start in Northern California’s hardcore and experimental scenes before joining The Glitch Mob, explains, "The great thing about the scene we came out of was that it defies labels. There’s no one single sound that unites our peers — it’s not a ‘scene’ defined by genre. Instead, what unites the artists is an interest in shattering categories and pigeonholes. Everyone around us from the West Coast—Flying Lotus, Nosaj Thing, Daedelus, Eprom—has their own distinctive sound. We all seem to want to break boundaries, but everybody has their own lane, which is what makes it so exciting."

The buzz around The Glitch Mob is warranted, and will continue to furiously build towards "Drink the Sea’s" May 25th release. The collective recently released a sweet video for one of their non-album tracks that will undoubtedly spawn a new wave of music blog fawning.

Want to check out The Glitch Mob live when they roll into The Middle East on May 5? Blast has the hookup. Everyone who enters a comment on this article will be eligible to win two free tickets. For those that don’t win, a limited amount of seats are still available.

About The Author

Matt Schnitt is a Blast intern

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