They're definitely a merch band and a lot of the discourse around them is cringeworthy, but their farewell has really only been dragged over the last 9 months. LoL. They have one show left and have been pretty transparent about it from the beginning.
I mean I can’t blame them. Money is money. That’s the KISS mentality. KISS is a business first and a band second.
But KISS has been dragging out this farewell for 5 years now and has been putting out coffind and action figures so it's not really an apt comparison in my eyes. Plus Gulch isn't making money in the grand scheme of things. If they were, they'd be doing what Drain is doing right now and actually tour. Further, I'd say the merch aspect takes more of an influence from Supreme because we're still talking about $25 shirts kids can flip. I'm happy with my shirt I got from the ICF pre-order so let the kids have their way.
I’m sticking with the hardcore version of KISS. They don’t have to tour if they are making money off merch. Drain are just relentless beasts.
They recorded a Pixies cover last year and decided to release it before they go away, it’s not that weird lol
& Militarie Gun recorded a John Lennon cover for their side. I think someone posted the link to order it here a few months ago
They also stated in an interview that they would put out an EP or small release of some sort and break up, this has been a known thing for a long time.
I love both bands, but honestly I think Frozen Soul has followed the KISS model more than Gulch. They've had more merch drops than any band I can think of in recent memory. (countless shirts, hoodies, shorts, sweatpants, hats, patches, VHS tapes, flags, sandals, grinders, coolers, sunglasses...) The hypebeast kids and the cum meme are what turned the Sanrio hoodie into such a big deal. The band ran with that a little bit, but honestly, they just reprinted the hoodie a couple times to stop the scalpers. They haven't just slapped their name on every product they can think of like KISS, or continued adding show after show to their "farewell tour". They announced they were calling it quits, booked a handful of shows to finish things up, and mostly (at least for now) seem to be sticking to that.
I am pretty much joking when it comes to the KISS comparison. I know there are plenty of bands out there selling merch 10x harder than Gulch. As multiple people have mentioned, they have done themselves no favors in fueling the controversy surrounding their merch in the past. Hopefully they bow out gracefully as they have foreshadowed and yes, that split was announced long ago.
Gulch is a merch band? If anyone is hyping gulch and their merch its not the band, it's just a bunch of hardcore Twitter nerds.
Don’t think 9 months is a long time at all for a band to finish up stuff, Bane was breaking up for half a decade
So Gulch is still breaking up? Any news on a final release or is this cover the last we hear from them?
Posted this in the metal thread but not in here, some friends of mine put out an EP (and a demo) out on The Coming Strife, inspired by 90s Eurocore and Death Metal - stuff like 200 Stab Wounds or Frozen Soul. Check it out!