Guerilla Toss

Equal parts ecstatic and hallucinogenic, Guerilla Toss operate without genre boundaries, pulling influences from no wave and noise alongside funk, punk, psychedelia, and pop. Endless touring paired with multiple releases on respected independent labels turned the band into one of the Northeastern American underground’s most acclaimed acts across the 2010s. Formed in Boston, the group first produced abrasive, dissonant avant-rock rooted in hardcore and free jazz, marked by piercing vocals and intricate rhythms on early recordings such as the 2012 album Jeffrey Johnson. By the release of Gay Disco in 2013, the music had shifted toward a funkier direction, where mutant basslines drove the unpredictable grooves. Growing popularity prompted a move to Brooklyn and a signing with the storied dance-punk imprint DFA, after which the sound tightened and gained a glossier, more dance-oriented edge on 2016’s Eraser Stargazer and 2018’s Twisted Crystal. Their first Sub Pop album, 2022’s Famously Alive, offered an upbeat embrace of radio-friendly pop.

Guerilla Toss originated in Boston in 2010 when drummer Peter Negroponte, guitarist Arian Shafiee, and fellow students from the New England Conservatory of Music’s contemporary improvisation department formed the project. This early instrumental lineup, shaped by free jazz, issued several limited cassettes on labels including Digitalis and Sludgesicle Records. Following a house show shared with hardcore band Western Syndrome, vocalist Kassie Carlson joined in 2012. Her initial contributions appeared on the live cassette My Real Dad (Spooky Town Records) and the studio LP Jeffrey Johnson (Feeding Tube Records), both issued in late 2012.

The band soon drew attention beyond Boston, as Brooklyn magazine The Deli named them Best Emerging New England Band of 2012. In 2013, John Zorn’s Tzadik label put out the self-titled CD, while the split LP Kicked Back into the Crypt with no wave revivalists Sediment Club appeared via Feeding Tube and Sophomore Lounge. Also that year, NNA Tapes released Gay Disco, an album whose co-founder Toby Aronson would briefly join the group the next year. The record signaled a turn toward greater danceability, a direction further explored on the 2014 EPs 367 Equalizer and Smack the Brick.

In 2015 the members relocated to Brooklyn and signed with DFA Records, which issued the Flood Dosed EP late that year. The full-length Eraser Stargazer arrived in 2016, accompanied by Live in Nashville and the remix EP Giant Claw vs. Guerilla Toss. GT Ultra, a more pop-focused and streamlined full-length, surfaced in 2017, followed later that year by another remix EP from experimental dub artist Jay Glass Dubs. After bassist Stephe Cooper of Cloud Becomes Your Hand joined in early 2018, the group issued Twisted Crystal, its most new wave-oriented album to date. A return to NNA came in 2019 with the EP What Would the Odd Do? The 7-inch “Human Girl” appeared as part of Sub Pop’s singles club in 2020. In 2022 the label released Famously Alive, a brightly optimistic collection of noisy pop songs featuring Auto-Tuned vocals and accessible melodies.