Would you chuck, Woodchuck, Chuck?
Here we have another band that instantly can fall into a cool category, whilst still remaining a little different from the rest. London’s Pop/Dance/Punk’s, Go:Audio, are a big slab of pop/punk, but instead of large chunky guitar riffs, bouncy melodies and lashings of harmonies, we have keyboards, and a slightly more Indie/Techno feel. Confused? Yep, thought you would be…
The first song is the title track on this ‘Woodchuck’ mini album, which I personally consider therefore to be an EP. It’s a track I saw on one of the many music channels a week or two ago and was instantly drawn to it. This is a pure pop/punk anthem, easily accessible with guitars riffs, thick bass and splashes of background keyboards. There are elements of Jimmy Eat World and Good Charlotte here.
Aside from the fact that when I see the title of next song, ‘Forget About It’, I can’t get Hugh Grant in Mickey Blue Eyes trying to do a New York (read Noo Yawk) out of my head, the song is a slower number heavily laced with techno-keyboards and coming across a little like the band Arkarna, in it’s mix of dance and rock.
There is no doubting that the success of bands like Madina Lake and Elliot Minor will help the popularity of Go:Audio, and the similarities are a little more evident in ‘So Quiet Your Were’, which is slightly more fast paced and more rock with keys, than the dance rock of the song before. The mini album finishes of with the slow and quiet song, ‘Doesn’t Really Matter’, a thoughtful number that sounds almost acoustic for the first two minutes before a digital beat is added for the last part.
Signed to Epic Records, I have no doubt that Go:Audio will be a success, however they also come across as slightly moulded for the masses, and whilst the title track, ‘Woodchuck’ is a great track and certainly one that would find it’s way onto my MP3 player, the others are a bit of a let down. I’m not a big fan of synthesizers and computer generated beats so perhaps that’s it, or perhaps it’s because I’m a little bit older and wiser towards what I consider to be great music…
Fan’s of Elliot Minor will love this I’m sure, and this weekend I’ve heard a lot lot worse, and let’s face it with or without my backing, I predict these to be big sellers anyway!