Customer Reviews

How Good We Had It

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Holy smokes! As a fan of Goner's debut, "Dollar Movie," I was excited to find that the band stuck around to issue a second record. I wondered what those indie-rock geniuses from Raleigh would issue forth for their Sophmore Slump (heh, heh...anything but!!!!)

Well, this record definitley ROCKS a lot HARDER than the debut...Jesus! At least half this record contains all-out anthemic rockers along the lines of "Acts of God + Fireworks" from the first album. "Whatever Day," "Are We There Yet," "Me and Billy," etc. just kick your ass with anthemic riffs, choruses and introspective lyrics.

"Lazy Star" rocks along at a faster clip than ANYTHING on the debut and displays some awesome math-like rythyms to boot.

This record also contains, "Letters To Cal" which might be the greatest indie-rock ballad of the 21st century. I seriously cannot pile enough praise on this epic.

The final cut, "Townies," changes the atmosphere from the rest of the record and closes out proceedings with the melancoly and the rustic and features duet vocals from Caitlin Carey (the better half of Whiskeytown's creative core).

Awesome. Of course in this day and age of a failing music industry, I suspect that this release will go unnoticed by most fans of indie/alternative/post-punk/emo/whatever as did there debut.

Recomended for fans of Broken Social Scene, Pretty Girls Make Graves, The Strokes, Death Cab For Cutie and The Shins.

There is no justice in this world....

Goner makes what some might call "indie music". Me? I call the kind of music GONER makes as well thought out , intelligent and thoughtful music that tells a story. To me, you've got elements of Springsteen, REM and perhaps even the Mountain Goats. Lead singer Scott Phillips has the kind of voice which suits the music perfectly and the band plays to perfection in accordance to his lyrics. This is the kind of album you play for your friends to show them the kind of undiscovered talent which lies within our world.

Goner harkens back to the days when alternative rock was just growing and had a strong southern college appeal. a time when bands like REM, the Feelies, and the Db's rules the university airwaves. it was that earnest jangle of those bands and a sense of real emotion that made their songs so great. well, Goner has the earnestness down, now how can we incorporate the jangle without a guitarist in the band? well, no matter when you've got this great little album under your sleeve. the songs on How Good We Had It are packed full with a strong melodic punch that hits hard; and the hooks are catchy, yet elusive enough to warrant further listening. unfortunatly, there are a few factors which make it hard for me to enjoy this album all the way through in one sitting. for one, the nasal vocals grate on my nerves a little bit and have a tendency to wear some of the songs down; and secondly, i find myself longing for some variation in some of the instrumentation and production. but those qualms aside, Goner's How Good We Had It stands as a really solid album and shows even further promise for future releases.