CD Review: Good God! - Self Titled

CD Review by Adam Wujtewicz

Good God! recently released a self titled CD and with only one show left before guitarist Tim Grimes goes to live on the left coast …you’re not going to have too many opportunities left to get it. So make sure to get to the show Monday and get a copy. (Details on the show are at the bottom of this page....)
This recording is super crisp, clear and polished, which is a compliment for a band like this.  There are 4 instruments doing different things so it’s imperative that you hear all 4 clearly.  The guitar tones are all pretty sharp and slashing but there are a lot of intricacies in what they’re doing so the thinner and more attack oriented sound is advantageous. They sound great, very natural, very well panned,  (if you’re listening in headphones this makes a big difference), and prominent but not over powering in the mix.  Mike Winslow’s drum playing is very energetic and interesting throughout the entire record.  He is able to push the songs along and create flawless transitions between parts of the songs.

When most people think of primarily instrumental bands I would bet the first two that come to mind are Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky.  Well I’ll tell you right now there are very little of those bands coming through in this music.  The songs structures on this record are much more traditional and have a much smaller and more intimate sort of feel.  Think more of a mellow Don Caballero or Ghosts & Vodka.  The interweaving of guitar and bass and the solo’s are more of a factor than the giant buildups and huge atmospheric soundscapes. The track “Books on Etiquette” for example has super lyrical guitar playing which completely takes the place of the vocals which a song with an arrangement like this could have had. 

The tracks  “Michael’s Afternoon Swim”, “Misdirected Love” and “Awake at Night / Tom Cruise was a Lousy Lover” all actually have vocals in them.  They are very reminiscent of the band Hum.  They are almost talked and at points bordering on monotone.  It’s an interesting thing to mix in but these songs become very standard rock songs on an album that was surviving on great musicianship.  I will admit that the opening lick and the noise ending on “Michaels Afternoon Swim” are 2 of my favorite individual parts of the record.

Good God!’s self titled offering does not have much in the way of surprises or studio trickery but what it is, is an honest and clear representation of what these four individuals were able to accomplish as a band in their few short months together.

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