Giant Lungs: Album of the Year 2023

Toward the end of 2023, it seems like a myriad of great bands from Germany's underground stoner/doom scene released equally great albums, but there was one band that stood out from the rest. I'm talking about an amazing band called Giant Lungs, a stoner/desert rock quartet from Augsburg. When I heard their debut album shortly after its release in October 2023, I experienced what I can best describe as love at first listen. (Seriously, those first few measures of Flying Lures that start the album undoubtedly signal a super catchy desert rock track, enough to intrigue even the most casual fan of the genre). I immediately designated the album as my number one pick for the October Doom Charts. Giant Lungs stayed on heavy rotation for me through the rest of the year, but it didn't take that long for me to realize that this was, without a doubt, my pick for album of the year. Giant Lungs' sound is created by skillfully and thoughtfully combining stoner/desert rock music (done incredibly well) with alternative rock vocals and songwriting (also done incredibly well). The result is a beautiful, infectious, groovy, and thought-provoking piece of art that will grab tenaciously onto your brain, heart, and soul. Here, I'll tell you why Giant Lungs has completely and permanently won me over. 

Stoner/desert rock has distinct layers to it, as all genres of music do. Typically, we hear that retro production, heavy bass groove, and fuzzy guitar riffs, often peppered with bright and soaring lead guitar and vocals. Giant Lungs takes these elements of the genres and elevates them tenfold, paying close attention to adding their own style and intricate details that take the music over the top. In fact, nearly every time I listen to the album, I notice something new about it that just floors me with its beauty, thoughtful timing, and skillful execution. 

To break it down a bit further, Giant Lungs has a rhythm section that isn't just doing basic rhythm-keeping here. The bass is absolutely grooving throughout the entire album (check out the intro to the song Shallow), and percussion is tight and totally jamming the whole time. The "bright and soaring" element of stoner/desert rock is one of my favorite things about it; you have this heavy, fuzzy groove going on in the background and, when the time is right, this dazzling lead guitar pops through like sunbeams through the storm clouds. Giant Lungs boasts an amazingly talented lead guitarist who has a knack for making a stoner/desert riff incredibly sophisticated and complex. Some great examples of my favorite lead guitar parts on the album include the intro to Girls With Fins, the distortion and riffs of Aromatico, and the licks on Shallow. Bear in mind, those are just a few examples. There are no boring or dull parts to this album, no "filler" of any kind. In fact, you have to pay attention lest you miss something; there's always something going on and changing...with enough distortion, fuzz, groove, and killer lead to melt your face off.   

That being said, if Giant Lungs was purely an instrumental band, they still would have gotten my attention, but let me talk a bit about my favorite part of the album that absolutely did me in: the vocals and lyrics. Overall, I would classify the vocal style as alternative rock and sometimes even grunge in sound, having a tendency to float above the heavy, fuzz-laden riffs like an ethereal vapor, making for a lovely and unique combination. A good example of this is the vocals in Ego, venturing nearly into "trippy" territory, like a subconscious voice in a dream (and I absolutely love that). Make no mistake, these vocals are incredibly versatile and powerful, driving home the lyrically intense and emotive parts of the songs. This is evident with the growls near the end of the song Worms as well as the guttural screams at the 4:35 mark on Girls With Fins; I felt those anguished cries of "What could you hope for?" in the depths of my soul. In both instances, this intensity is immediately followed up by that hypnotic crooning. There's even a brief falsetto part in I Want You that fits in beautifully with the song, further demonstrating the range of this vocalist. In fact, these vocals are by far my favorite that I've heard this year. As a huge fan of both stoner and alternative rock, the vocals and instrumentals coming together here are the perfect combination; truly the best of both worlds. 

The lyrics on this album are primarily written much like a poem, in similes and metaphors, leaving them largely up to listener interpretation. My favorite thing about this lyrical style is the meaning can vary a bit for each individual based on their own unique experiences and the season of life they're in at the time. The lyrics on this album have the power to make you stop and think, create a really intriguing image in your mind, and speak directly to you. They can resonate with you personally, maybe in a way that you weren't able to describe on your own before hearing a certain song. I was struck by how much I could personally identify with some of these lyrics, hearing a line here and there that would wholly entrance me. My favorite lyrical masterpieces on this album are Girls With Fins (with its very cool imagery), I Want You ("Please break my heart/ So I could know/ I am a lonely flake/ On my own"), Worms (with its captivating metaphors of burning bridges), and Shallow. In the latter, the line, "Advocate of the devil, are you in with me?" seals the deal, the proverbial ribbon on the beautiful gift of lyrical poetry this album provides. What the instrumentals do for the heaviness, fuzziness, and groove factor of the album, the vocals and lyrics do for the emotive experience of it all. More generally speaking, the album is simultaneously so groovy yet so passionate, it's quite mind blowing in the best way. This is the kind of album that has staying power, one that you'll play over and over again. 

Giant Lungs' debut has a perfectly varied composition; doing a fantastic job of using tempo changes and frequently changing up how light or weighty the songs are, dropping heavy, fuzzy riffs at opportune times. I found it to be very clever to end the album with what is probably the most infectious, upbeat song on the record, Ego, directly followed by the final song, I Want You, which could arguably be called a ballad. When the last song ends with that final note of distortion, you can't help but be absolutely gobsmacked by everything you just heard. Within its seven tracks and thirty-four minute runtime, this album covers a lot of territory. It feels like a much longer album in that regard, yet it somehow ends way too soon. The material here is perfectly set up to be an unforgettable live show (I'm definitely adding seeing these guys live to my bucket list). I can also absolutely see Giant Lungs getting some mainstream airplay, much in the same way Queens of the Stone Age got some alternative rock radio attention in the early 2000s. With their skillful melding of the stoner/desert rock and alternative/grunge genres, Giant Lungs has the ability to appeal to a wide variety of fans.

To end, I want to take the opportunity to say that I feel incredibly grateful to have heard Giant Lungs' amazing debut. I knew I would hear some great music in 2023 when I became more active in the underground music scene, but I wasn't prepared for an album such as this that would end up being one of the most brilliant albums I've heard in my lifetime. And I do mean brilliant in every sense of the word; a standout, scintillating rendition of stoner/desert/alternative rock, fashioned in the most intelligent and meticulous way. No matter what long-term goals Giant Lungs have in mind, I know they can achieve them, and I wish them the best of luck in their endeavors. They will always have an enthusiastic supporter and fan in me.

A huge thank you to Giant Lungs for sharing your music with us, and for being cool dudes! 

If you haven't heard Giant Lungs yet, first of all, what are you doing with your life? I'll make it super easy for you. Check out the link to their album on Bandcamp below, as well as their epic video for Ego on YouTube! (The landscape depicted in the video seems like a cool place to hang out). While you're at it, give them a follow on Facebook and Instagram!  

If you like Giant Lungs, you might also enjoy Yeast Machine!