GAUCI, the prismatic pop project  of Antonia Gauci (engineer for Kesha, Troye Sivan, Lil Yachty), David Gauci (Flowertruck), Felix Lush (supported Toro y Moi, Methyl Ethyl, daine), announce their signing to 23 MGMT, alongside their joining of Gaga Music for publishing and sync. With the news, the three-piece has shared their latest single, the accelerant ‘Irritating’. LISTEN + WATCH HERE.

Elated by the expansion of their team,  GAUCI share “We’re so happy to be building our team and work alongside 23 MGMT and Gaga. Melody and Maia have supported us from the early days and having them onboard felt like the biggest no-brainer. Grant, Alex and the broader team have already wasted no time and we’re so excited to see what the future holds.”

Maia Bilyk from 23 PR & MGMT, shares the excitement is mutual: “We are beyond proud to forge this partnership with GAUCI as they have continued to prove their fearless craftsmanship and deep studio know-how. Just as able to make immediate, genuine connections with anyone as they are ambitious, each elevated step they’ve taken so far still remains true to their DIY roots. Antonia, David and Felix don’t stop inspiring us and we’re thrilled to guide their growth, full throttle, into the future.”

Following the group’s representation with independent booking agency Collective Artists (Julia Jacklin, KUČKA, Aldous Harding), GAUCI joins the formidable catalogues of Warp, LuckyMe, Maple Glider and more at Gaga Music. Founder Grant Gillies says, “All of us here at Gaga are delighted to be working with Antonia, David and Felix and their team Maia and Melody. The Australian pop scene is fast evolving and GAUCI both as a band and individually are a big part of this frontier. We’re so proud to be working with such innovative talent and we look forward to taking their songs to the world.”

Where their previous drop ‘Back 2 When’ indicated a refined focus for the band, ‘Irritating’ continues that renewed shift in the electronic space. Dedicated to the back-of-the-room introverts, ‘Irritating’ is your shy internal monologue played in real time;  feeling “desperate for attention,” but fearful that everything said and done is “wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.” Throughout, GAUCI marry revved up guitars steeped in club-ready bass, helmed by their iconoclastic synth basis, the hero of each release mutated according to mood and motive.

Self-deprecating, though forthright over sour, of the biting release GAUCI explain, “Irritating is a melancholic dance floor anthem about hating yourself, wanting more out of life but also realising that you can break up with that voice inside yourself and get what you want. It went through many different versions but it wasn’t until we experimented with a heavier guitar sound that it all came together, experimenting with distortion all over the song ended up with something a little darker to our usual sound.”

Emblematic of Antonia, David and Felix’s enduring adherence to contemporary power pop and fierce punk; roaring alternative music and the euphoric release of the dancefloor are balanced with prudence, subtly complemented with tasteful sentimentality. This careful twist of impulses, GAUCI crafts into an impression entirely their own – a spirit firm in tethering the untenable or unexpected, much like their contemporaries in Cub Sport, Mallrat or Caroline Polachek. Auteurs on the rise, GAUCI enter 2023 ready to share hit after hit, with an upcoming performance alongside Vallis Alps at Oxford Art Factory this March.