By Jessica Hazel

There’s a new gang on the streets of East London. More terrifying than any gun-wielding estate mob and more wayward than the hobos found loitering outside the job centre. They call themselves, Gaggle, a choir of twenty-odd women led by classically trained choir master (and ex-586 member) Deborah Coughlin.

The concept was dreamt up during multiple boozy lock-ins at the George Tavern (Whitechapel’s answer to Studio 54), where Coughlin gathered a circle of friends with similarly relaxed views on hedonism and lesbianism, and began writing choral parts about cigarettes, being a drunk and hating men.

A few months and a number of dramatic line-up changes later and Gaggle are successfully selling themselves as “an alternative to burlesque, shit TV and bad boy band watching” and can be found in every music rag around town. Their first official single, the gruesome and bellowing ‘I Hear Flies’, was given an official launch at the unlikely venue of St Giles In The Fields church in central London. The audience sat in the pews, bathed in green light as Gaggle trouped down the isle, a far cry away from blushing brides as they brandished their zombie-esque make-up and equally horrific headgear. On stage they bellowed out vocal wonders such as the bitter and scathing ‘Liar’ and the tuneful yet foreboding ‘Crows’ where multiple layers of voices are supported only by the flailing limbs of Coughlin, who resembles a nu rave Indian squaw. A cover of ‘Mowgli’s Road’ by Marina And The Diamonds proved the high point of the gig, a significant improvement on the original with the added theatricality.

Many have accused Gaggle of being a passing novelty rather than a serious musical endeavour and this may well be the case but until then London seems intent on enjoying them while it can and getting them along to every party in the process.

http://www.myspace.com/gagglespace




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