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.
