Get yer head outta that paper bag and pay attention because The Go harks back to the kind of slinky pop music that once was a hallmark of the late ’60s and early ’70s.
Building on a strong fuzz-tone foundation, it’s got an underlying scattershot style which encapsulates the swervy choogling guitar groove of Marc Bolan’s T. Rex (“Capricorn”); the playfulness of Nick Gilder’s Sweeney Todd (“Ain’t That Bad”); the intelligence of Ian Hunter’s Mott The Hoople (“Come Back”); the mischievousness of Todd Rundgren’s dual rack job Nazz (“I Got It”) and Runt (“Blue Eyes Woman”); not to mention a swampy riff wrap that sounds like Miami Morrison fronting Die Stooches (“Summer’s Gonna Be My Girl”).
Now for the bad news: The Go runs about 15 minutes too long (admittedly a value judgment) and suffers from a drastically uneven production job which fluctuates wildly all over the place (undeniably a fact).
Despite needing amputation, you can dance to this pop revelation because it’s all right. There’s more than a modicum of the Beach Boys, Knack, Paul Revere, the Archies and Rick Derringer to be found buried in the mix — not to mention who knows how many other obscure regional bands that’ve long since been forgotten.
Now if only someone would book these guys into a good recording studio and give them a lesson in Editing 101, their next album might very well end up being a full-sized power-pop contender instead of a 1/25th scale do-it-yourself Nuggets model kit.
And that’s nothing to sniff at.
The Go will perform with Guided By Voices at the Magic Stick (4120 Woodward, Detroit) on Saturday, Nov. 15. Call 313-833-9700 for info.
E-mail Jeffrey Morgan at [email protected].
