 |
| Album
Review |
|
|
Brighton these days is a hot bed of talent and Goodluck
Jonathan are just the latest band to come to our
attention. When you think Brighton your mind automatically
dreams up beaches and fairs This Is Our Way Out
however is a little more Graham Greene than that,
for those who haven’t read Brighton Rock I’ll
save you the trouble and let you know it’s
all just a bit grim and violent;Goodluck Jonathan
capture this apocalyptic essence over a series of
3 EPs collected here.
This Is Our Way Out is an interesting album with
a relatively low un-produced sound and raw energy
that works; it’s eager and even a little amateur,
but it gives the band character. These five boys
aren’t exactly making post-rock more like
post-pop if you’re willing to go along with
that and you should be because it sounds great.
Opening track ‘Bruises Disappear’ is
three minutes of delayed picked guitars and a spoken
tale of a future resistance that grows to a loud
distorted cry of “sometimes you might find
yourself awake at night scared all the stars are
still there/ bruises disappear I swear.” The
accented spoken word segments of this record are
its finest moments allowing the band to tell you
stories that are in equal parts desperately dark
and charmingly innocent.
This isn’t post-rock as I’ve said, but
it’s the genre Goodluck Jonathan fit into
best if you like to compartmentalise and as such
you expect an insane amount of distorted guitars,
luckily Goodluck Jonathan have understood that this
has been done to death and instead use fairly clean
sounds and delay in the same way. It’s strange
then that the most ‘radio-friendly’
track on the album ‘Broken Heart’ is
also the most undeniably post-rock. The track is
catchy and the repetitive riffs and lyrics are delivered
well “these thoughts are forming/ they keep
on forming on their own”, yet it’s the
most generic track on offer here, it could be by
a thousand bands, and it disregards what this band
are capable of.‘Fatman’ is fairy tale
rock with a classic rhythm guaranteed to make you
move and the bands twist of delayed and relayed
vocals over sharp calculated guitars. Goodluck Jonathan
are a band very much aware of what they are doing
and on This Is Our Way Out they have control; it’s
all very British.
While they have created and defined their sound
their true potential is never fully recognised and
much of the album blends in as filler, the opening
track is the best on the album which means that
after the first three minutes it’s all downhill,
that is until the end. ‘This Is Our Way Out’
is a stunning spoken word song that finishes the
album off with a simple single note drum beat that
slowly builds as a plethora of instruments join
and then disappear again. A masterful way for Goodluck
Jonathan to end a decent debut album that shows
off just how skilled they are.If this is indicative
of what’s yet to come then these boys are
ones to watch.
3.5/5
Review by Lauren Mullineaux |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Band
Members |
|
|
| Track
Listing |
|
|
1. Bruises Disappear
2. Stranded
3. Broken Heart
4. Lights Burn My Eyes
5. Fatman
6. Fall Of America
7. Backs To The Wall
8. Away From Here
9. Mad Licks
10. Stop
11. This is Our Way Out |
|
|
|
|
|
| Band
Related Links |
|
|
| Review
Score Code |
|
|
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
-
What Was That? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
