A New Take on Beer Pairing
Romeo and Juliet. Peanut butter and jelly. Whiskey and the jar-o. Some things just go together. Music and booze is one of those magically delicious pairings, and further to a conversation I had a while back, here is a recommendation for something I’ve been loving recently paired with something quite classic.
Gnome are a three piece band from Belgium that combine some of the best things, musically, about being huge nerds; stoner doom, hardrock, prog and metal, all wrapped up in medieval fantasism. The music is tighter than you’d think from a description like that though, reminiscent of a less fuzzy and more proggy Kyuss, or a somewhat lighter Red Fang. They dress like cosplayers on a three-euro budget, combining ridiculousness with heavy riffs, some epic rock soundscapes in the best tradition of your bored music nerd trios amusing themselves. Vocally, they are mostly regular singing with the occasional slip into a growl, or just long instrumental metal odysseys. Their lyrics tend to be fun, silly, and more than a little epic.
I think that might be what makes them so irresistible to me – they just seem to be having fun. They’re not these dour-faced artistes who think they sound metal as fuck because they sing about murdering gods and desecrating corpses and whatever else teenage boys think is edgy. These guys choreograph ridiculous little dances while they sing silly ditties about their stupid fucking king, or perform epic looping stoner rock guitar solos in a song whose only lyrics are two words: the eponymous ‘Kraken Wanker’. Dumb. Awesome. And still capable. It’s the sort of shit you put on thinking it’s a bit of a joke and then find yourself still bopping along to it forty minutes later, thinking “huh, who knew? Who saw this coming?”
So what to pair with a band like gnome? Well, call me Captain Obvious if you will, but why not a cheeky La Chouffe? Equally Belgian, equally gnomish – same hats. Un marriage parfait, as some Belgians might say. Pours a dense, honey blonde with a big and active white head, it’s brewed in that Belgian way (duh) with extra sugar and coriander seeds, giving it a big nose straight out of the stout, brown bottle. Smells yeasty, like bananas and spice, light and fresh, and 8% too. One of the true classics of Belgian brewing – being one of the few that made it this far back in the day and really helping sew the seeds of that Belgian blonde flavour alongside Hoegaarden, among others. Its profile is unmistakable – banana, bubblegum, sweetness and funk, spritzy lemon sherbet notes and spicy herbaceousness. Classic.
This is one of those beers that I would typically say I sort of don’t like – these Belgians are a big and bold brew, and if you don’t dig that profile, there is nowhere to hide. They have the funk. They have it all. But I am partial to a cheeky blonde or a saison from time to time, and I find myself enjoying them more and more as the years go on. I tend to prefer Belgium’s intense sours, their Oude Bruins, their Flanders Red’s, their gooseberry horseblankets and whatnot. My go-to’s tend to skew more towards stouts, spritzy sours, IPA’s and their ilk but the occasional Belgian is a little treat to keep your toe on the earth as you let your mind drift away to the strains of some Gnomecore. I award each a perfect 5 out of 7 stars.
Check them out on Bandcamp or Spotify or whomever you tend to prefer but do yourself a favour and watch some of their stuff on YouTube. It’s worth it to get the full effect of just how fucking silly they are, playing in their little red hats, usually in a garden.* Try Wenceslas or Blacksmith for the videoclips, something like Stinth Thy Clep for a fun, nineties alt-rock grunge metal inspired sort of tune, or something like Platypus Platoon for the full effect prog odyssey.
*Coz they’re Gnomes. Geddit?
Exit Pursued by a Beer 