Something old, something blue, something primal, something new
Cited as an influence by Mars Volta, covered by US chart bothering alt rockers Local H, and boasting celebrity fans like David Bowie and Johnny Depp, London rock n roll troupe The Godfathers have quite a legacy to protect.
Reforming at the end of the last decade, this is their first album for four years, but crucially their first with a brand new line up. MV doesn’t know whether the new blood is why, but whatever the reason, The Godfathers haven’t sounded this vibrant and vital in years.
Right from the kick off here, they sound up for a scrap, as the pounding title track takes on all comers and lays waste to anyone that dares cross it. It’s key line “we started shooting the politicians around about quarter to nine” seems to encapsulate the vibe, not just here, but across the whole record.
That said, there is a pleasing lack of conformity about the rest. “Till My Heart Stops Beating” manages an upbeat vibe, full of handclaps, and is perhaps what would happen if Cheap Trick had grown up in London and recorded an album in Birmingham and infused their power pop with a real Brit grit. “You Don’t Love Me” walks the same line and is infused with a real electricity.
At its best, “…Noise” is offering the problems, but no solutions. “Poor Boy’s Son” mixes working class frustration with a bar room rock n roll sensibility, given to it by mixing Peter Coyne’s snarling vocals and guitar with a piano led hook. “One Good Reason” comes with a sort of a “Exile On Main St” laid back feel, and “Miss America” sees Coyne almost talking, but it works brilliantly.
However The Godfathers in general and this record in particular, don’t see why you should settle in to knowing what comes next. “Defibrillator” comes on like a jarring two-minute boot to the nutsack, but, as if to counterbalance this, “She’s Mine” is gentle and almost loving before the gloriously dumb rock n roll of “Feedbacking” comes to take us to a different realm altogether.
Mind you, if that’s a different realm, then “Let’s Get Higher” is another state of consciousness and there’s no hint of growing old- gracefully or otherwise- about lyrics like “politics is not my bag/ I’d rather have another drag/ I refuse to pledge allegiance to your flag.”
And the whole thing ends in suitably nihilistic fashion, with a dreamy ballad “You And Me Against The World” which faces up to the fact there might be no future with an admirable stoicism and – dare we say it – a very British stiff upper lip.
In fairness, that is the overriding feel of the record too. It’s primal, raw rock n roll could only have been made a British band, and more than that it could only have been by a very good one that pulled the thing off this well.
Rating 8/10
