“We just don’t geeve,” shrugs Abandon All Ships (AAS) vocalist Angelo Aita.
Slang terminology has long been a way for youth to create autonomy. Lingo separates young from old; allows informal chat while excluding others and fosters fresh opinions of what is acceptable.
“Geeve” though? Thanks to Toronto’s hardcore punk-influenced electronic upstarts Abandon All Ships, a new word is about to enter common vernacular. Only those who understand it are on their side of the generation gap.
“Geeve’s got multiple meanings, but the most important one is that we just don’t (care),” laughs Aita. “We (used) this word a lot growing up. It’s like, whatever happens, happens. We’re still gonna do things our way.”
That they are. The word has become so pivotal to Aita, bassist Martin Broda, guitarists Kyler Stephen Browne and Andrew Paiano, drummer Daniel Paiano and keyboardist Sebastian Cassisi-Nunez, it’s the official title of their debut full-length.
At that, Geeving (Underground Operations/Universal Music Canada) is bold. Delving into unexplored territory, it finds punk and electronica — two vastly different musical genres — uniting as though they’ve always been together. Channelling their inherently danceable Euro-pop grooves through a severe filter of punk’s combative aggression, Geeving is as unique as it is provocative.
“We’re interested in everything from modern hardcore and metal like Parkway Drive meshed together with a throwback-’90s Euro style including Joée, DJ Company,” Aita notes, explaining how the band created such an anomalous style.
“We grew up through the ’90s and Euro was shoved in your face all the time so it helped shape what we do. Nobody’s mixed these two elements together, before but we genuinely love both of them.”
Apparently they’re not alone in their adoration of disparity. AAS has garnered impressive popularity during their stint on the second season of MuchMusic program DisBAND, acclaim sure to push Geeving to the top of many charts. Not that AAS could “geeve” a rat’s bum cheeks. Aita declares that regardless of acceptance, they’re gonna geeve it their all.
“We have ‘Geeving’ tattooed on our bodies, it has that much meaning to us. The sincerity, creativity and passion of our music is undeniable.”
