Gut Health – ‘Stiletto’ review: Melbourne post-punks dig their heels in on sharp-dressed debut

11 October, 2024

Gut Health, photo by Celeste de Clario

“Best-kept secret” was never going to be a title that suited Gut Health. Their dynamite live show instantly became an “if-you-know-you-know” insider tip in the Melbourne music scene following their early 2020s emergence. Anyone who caught so much of a glimpse at these shows soon knew that the urgency and energy of this dynamic sextet could only be contained for so long.

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The secret is officially out. As their profile rises in their native Australia, thanks to sizable support slots with Queens Of The Stone Age and Hiatus Kaiyote, the rest of the world will soon be playing catch-up. Just as well, too, considering their hotly anticipated debut album ‘Stiletto’ is nigh-on undeniable in its effort and ambition. As indebted to the era of post-punk in the late-70s as it is to the NYC 2000s revival, Gut Health have crafted a percussively driven, instantly danceable style of motorik indie that impossibly toes the great divide between resolute, forceful intent and nonchalant, effortless cool.

‘Uh Oh’, the album’s opener, is a standout which leaves absolutely no breathing space. Not even so much as a drumstick count-in. The rhythm section of Adam Markman and Myka Wallace are immediately in the groove; Markman’s steely bassline is in perfect precision with Wallace’s cracking snare rimshots, before the rest of the band propels into an alternate universe where Gang Of Four was fronted by Kathleen Hanna.

Meanwhile, the record’s grand-finale title track will lure you into a state of hypnosis with its slithering, off-kilter rhythm. Scintillating and incessant, the seven-and-a-half minute epic builds from its seething spoke-sung opening verses into a cathartic cacophony of guitar feedback and badly beaten bongos. You’re unlikely to have heard anything quite like it in 2024 – and this late in the game, it’s even less likely you will for the remainder of the calendar year.

Though all six members bring their own flair, it’s obvious all eyes are on prowling frontwoman Athina “Uh Oh” Wilson. Parlaying between sultry melody and banshee shrieks, she offers up Dadaist poetry that would even make Dry Cleaning’s Florence Shaw scratch her head. ‘Cool Moderator’ introduces a cast of non-playable characters like Chelsea, who “went viral in 2014”, or Trixie, who will “save you with a flash tatt or two”, atop a volatile backbeat that completely derails twice in spectacular fashion.

Ironically, the only thing holding the album back from perfection is the potential it shows for Gut Health’s future. As great as what’s on offer here is, you just know the sextet are just getting warmed up. For those seeking their indie rock artsy, out of the ordinary and daringly different, try ‘Stiletto’ on for size. It might just be a perfect fit.