The brainchild of guitarist/vocalist Tom Ng and bassist Josh Frank, Chinese experimental rock outfit
Gong Gong Gong earned underground acclaim in the late 2010s for their rhythmic genre-fusing. 2019's Phantom Rhythm, their full-length debut, was a stripped-down but locked-in set of propulsive, drum-free songs influenced by blues, punk, and Asian and African folk traditions. The same tracks were given electronic interpretations on 2019's
Phantom Rhythm Remixed.
Formed in Beijing in 2015,
Gong Gong Gong was the musical union of bassist Josh Frank (Hot & Cold) and guitarist/vocalist Tom Ng (The Offset:Spectacles). Blending a variety of genres from blues to noise rock, the pair relied on melodic guitar playing for their self-described "phantom rhythms," over which Ng delivered poetically inspired narratives in his native tongue, Cantonese. After getting started with a series of jam sessions, the duo released their debut EP, 2016.03.25 | Fruityspace, on its titular date and mixtape President Piano Co. Tape in December of that year. Maintaining a prolific release schedule, the pair dropped EPs Wǔhoù Shanghai, Dìxià Beijing, and Rhythm n' Drone in 2017, followed by Rhythm n' Drone II in February 2018. After releasing a series of collaborative singles, the duo issued their debut LP, Phantom Rhythm, on Wharf Cat Records in 2019. Two years later,
Phantom Rhythm Remixed appeared, with producers such as
Yu Su,
Howie Lee, and
P.E. adding industrial, drum'n'bass, and ambient techno rhythms to the duo's songs. ~ David Crone