photo: Ebru Yildiz
The Giraffes, Brooklyn’s brazen purveyors of ‘metal-tinged scuzz-rock,’ are back with their eighth album, Cigarette. Since crashing onto the scene in 1996, The Giraffes have carved their name with raw riffs and reckless abandon. Frontman Aaron Lazar growls with a vengeance, while Damien Paris slashes through each song with guitar licks sharp enough to cut glass. Behind them, Andrew Totolos hammers out a thunderous beat, and Hannah Moorhead’s bass holds it all together like a low-end anchor in a storm. But now, there’s a twist—Moorhead isn’t just riding shotgun anymore; she’s adding her voice and pen to the mix.
With Cigarette, The Giraffes step into new territory, taking risks in both theme and sound. This is no slow burn. The album grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go. It’s a fever-dream of psychedelic swagger and sinister grooves, a soundtrack for a world crumbling beneath the weight of decay, disappointment, fear, and fury; a bitter cocktail of idiocy spiked with a shot of hope. It’s a raw, relentless reminder that even after all these years, The Giraffes are still wild, still unpredictable, and still kicking up dust.
“Cigarette is a name that just popped into my mind out of the blue,” admits Lazar. “We tried several titles but this word “cigarette” just seemed to suit the record best. Those now rare and expensive and terrible treats that both kill and sustain you. Anachronistic and awkward, beautiful and trashy, plant, paper, fire and whatever else that happened to linger in the Philip Morris production line,” says Aaron Lazar. “This collection of songs comes from a cinematic place. We started off attempting to make a record that was spiritually similar to our spaghetti western soundtrack A Gentleman Never Tells, and with a few detours I think we have arrived there. A score for our current age of decay and disappointment, fear and fury, idiocy and hope.”
The band recently released the single Pipes, a furious, psychedelic protest anthem born from the fear of widespread environmental neglect, and the hypnotic lead track The Shot, a rock-meets-psychedelic-surf earworm that shimmers between shadowy depths and sunlit crescendos.
The video for Pipes is a surreal, kaleidoscopic journey into the human face – Lazar’s, to be specific – where each close-up becomes a strange and hypnotic canvas. Teeth gnash, an iris flickers like a fractured lens, and lips curl as they spit out the song’s biting lyrics. Every detail is captured in vivid, living color, transforming the ordinary into the unsettling. It’s a bizarre spectacle, a psychedelic exploration of the familiar made strange, pulling you into its unsettling orbit with each twitch and grimace.
Cigarette is out September 27, but you can preview the album at the link below. Pre-orders are available here.
After four years of honing their craft and two years since debuting with Franksquilt in 1998, The Giraffes truly hit their stride in 2000 with the arrival of vocalist Aaron Lazar. The band’s dynamic energy reached new heights, and with the release of Helping You Help Yourself in 2002, their first album featuring Lazar, they cemented their place as one of Brooklyn’s most unrestrained and fun-loving live acts. Their fierce musicianship and wild audience interaction became hallmarks of their shows.
The Giraffes soon embarked on national tours, releasing four studio albums in rapid succession while signing with various labels along the way. Their 2003 spaghetti western-inspired EP A Gentleman Never Tells was followed by The Giraffes (2005), the Pretty In Puke EP, and the album Prime Motivator (2008). Their ambitious 2010 concept album Ruled would be Lazar’s swan song before his departure in 2011. Though his exit seemed to signal the end of an era, the fiery essence of their sound endured, proving that The Giraffes were far from finished.
In 2014, The Giraffes made a triumphant return with sold-out reunion concerts, once again led by Aaron Lazar and reuniting fans from all corners. Energized by the overwhelming support, the band dove into new material, culminating in their critically acclaimed sixth album, Usury, released in 2015.
By 2019, The Giraffes saw a refreshed lineup with the addition of bassist Hannah Moorhead (from Netherlands and Twenty Two’s), injecting new energy into the group. This resurgence brought about the release of Flower of the Cosmos, featuring remixes by Swervedriver’s Adam Franklin and renowned hip-hop producer Blockhead.
Over the years, The Giraffes have toured with acts such as Eagles of Death Metal, Local-H, The Vacation, and Skeleton Key. They’ve also shared the stage with Interpol, Fishbone, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The Strokes, while making appearances at major festivals like SXSW, Bonnaroo, Amsterjam, Voodoo Fest, Monolith, Northside, and CMJ.
Follow The Giraffes:
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