Gavlak: A Rock Punk Rap Metal Band You Must Check Out

I saw a recent gig of my friend Michael Lee’s band, Gavlak. They played at the Canyon in Agoura Hills, CA. They don’t play much so they’re hard to find, but if you can, you will be glad you did.

I wrote about one of their gigs last year here.

I wrote in that article that I don’t like loud banging music and I especially do not like live performances, I am a studio music lover. But I have to say, Gavlak may make a punk concert-goer out of me yet.

Their pounding melodies are memorable, and their lyrics are profound and spiritual. I don’t mean religious, I mean transcendent truth cyphered through real world experience.

The band is solid. Hey, it’s no secret they ain’t Millennial spring chickens. But that’s what makes them so fascinating. Their age brings a maturity in both skill and insight that it takes years of life experience to create.

Their music could be compared to Rage Against the Machine, Primus or the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Stone Temple Pilots or Faith No More? Maybe. But really, Gavlak is not quite like any of them. They have a unique sound that is hard to pin down.

But their melodies stick with you, and their lyrics make you think.
Their showmanship has just gotten better over time. I would echo what a photographer had said after the gig: Lead singer Michael Lee is a rock star. He bounces around on the stage, not with anarchic lunacy, but dramatic flair that makes you enjoy the music that much more.

In that previous post I wrote about most of their songs, but they have two new ones that I absolutely LOVE…

The World is Upside Down

The first, The World is Upside Down talks about a party where a harmless game of adult “Never Have I Ever” resulted in a revelation of our cultural depravity, where shame becomes glory.

What was my darkest secret,
my source of deepest shame
became a badge of honor
from just one silly game.

The world is upside-down.
What’s right or wrong is turned around.
I don’t know how I ever found
my way to make it through it.

The Reluctant

The other new song is an intense muse about how our culture is so engrossed in lies and delusions (as is evident in the current elections). But yet, how violent people are against the truth and truth-tellers. “Reluctant” chronicles the inner struggle of a man who has encountered the Truth but is reluctant to tell the world out of anger and fear of attack. Not very courageous, but deeply honest. Reminds me of our new thought-police state in America that persecutes Christians just for believing in the Bible. Not merely mockery, but actual persecution, twisting the law to destroy people’s livelihoods and trying to force people to deny their faith. What Twilight Zone episode are we living in?

But really, is it all that different from what they did to the ultimate Truth-teller?

I’d love to change the world.
I know just what to do.
That’s right, I do.
I’d love to change the world.
I know just what to do.
I’m not telling you.
you gonna crucify me too
huh, with the things you’ve done,
the things you do…. I’m not telling you.

Anyway, I highly recommend their music, even if you are not a punk rock listener, but are willing to appreciate anything with catchy tunes and thoughtful lyrics in our mad, mad, mad, mad world of shallow reality television lives.

Here are links to their stuff:

Gavlak Music on iTunes

Music Video “In The Pain” on Facebook

Twitter page

Instagram page

GAVLAK Facebook page