The Goodwill

The Goodwill: That Was A MomentThat Was A Moment (2003)
Negative Progression Records

Reviewer Rating: 2

Contributed by: JiveSideJiveSide
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on February 11th 2003I can't wait for the backlash, oh I can't wait brothrs and sistrs, for it's almost here, it has to be, a backlash that if only for a moment makes music honest, tough, dangerous…anything that's different from the overproduced bile in mainstream music today. Am I wrong in claiming that something is n.

I can't wait for the backlash, oh I can't wait brothrs and sistrs, for it's almost here, it has to be, a backlash that if only for a moment makes music honest, tough, dangerous…anything that's different from the overproduced bile in mainstream music today. Am I wrong in claiming that something is not right with today's music? Let's look at the current trends; metal cut the tempo and hired a stylist, thugz became huggably cute, and punk is a slew of commercial jingles with wimpy singers. It's become increasingly harder to tell a Simple Plan video from a Gap commercial, or a New Found Glory clip from a Blink-182 outtake. This has bred a generation of kids who think Puddle of Mudd is heavy rock, that pintsized Ja Rule is tough, and Good Charlotte is rebellious punk rock. No wonder the kids today are soft, the mainstream is only offering them one-calorie rock and roll without ever suggesting music that will kick your teeth in, and it breaks my heart to hear new acts that sound just as prim and proper as the previous band of buffed and polished pretty boys. However, when the underground imitates the mainstream it signals for a change to happen, waking the people from their slumber and making them proclaim, "now this is good!"

Unfortunately, Long Island's The Goodwill are just another carbon copy of truly wimpy musicians who think people honestly care about melodramatic tales of relationship issues, which apparently this band has a lot of, moving from one mid-tempo song to the other without changing the subject matter once. Surely this latest record of prissy rock and roll will add to my woes, but it could possibly bring us all closer to the end of Nickelodeon-safe punk (forever the optimist).

The core of this band (guitarists Daniel Sanchez and Travis Johnides, bassist Josh Moskoviz, and drummer Greg Oecshlin) have their finest moment during the first twenty-seven seconds of "Let it Go", with drums flying while pick-scrapes follow dropping into the "punk intro" but then singer Brian Barbuto enters with a feeble tenor which immediately neutralizes all the energy in the music. Worst of all, Barbuto's voice is one that never stops singing (on any of the songs), so much in fact, melody fails to be a part of the Goodwill formula, aimlessly delivering lyrics such as, "Let me hide between the sheets/You used to cover up my scars/That I have been dealt with by girls/That never cared like you." What little energy is left on this record seems to break down in the rhythm section after the first three songs, leaving the rest of the album feeling far too comfortable without any sense of the urgency that gives music life. And when the record is supposed to reach its emotional peak during the final song "Broken", the "do-do-do" chorus is excruciatingly limp and lasts over a minute long, leaving me annoyed rather than moved.

Music aside, the booklet alone is as pretentious and forced as art gets, telling the tale of boy and girl together in bliss on the cover until he is alone on the back cover, holding his face in his hand, a fraction of the man he was with her, supposedly novel and poetic. This is the very thing that is making kids today soft for there is no adventure in bickering relationships and there is no excitement in art so obvious that it's blinding. Song titles such as "Forgotten Feeling", "Deception", "Lying Alone", and "Broken" are just a few examples of how planned out and superficial this music is. My suggestion is to protect your ears and get comfortable, for The Goodwill's latest record "That Was a Moment" is an extremely long 38 minutes of truly forgettable music.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

soulbleed (August 19, 2004)

"Sometimes the Radio" is a great song.

Anonymous (March 25, 2003)

I agree with the person that argues the point: His website is dedicated to hip hop and r&b.... I also agree with this review.... The Goodwill are contrived and boring.

Although, I wonder how reliable this source is. There is nothing wrong with his website being dedicated to those styles.... it's just interesting to hear him spout off a bunch of crap about a shitty punk band.

randallp (March 7, 2003)

This album is like a bad NFG... which is pretty bad. One day, people who listen to this will hear a good band and bust in their pants.

Anonymous (February 16, 2003)

Hey wuss, we're all shocked that you like this. Because your taste in music is mindbendingly good.

Anonymous (February 16, 2003)

they are a really good band

Anonymous (February 15, 2003)

to all on this board...shut the fuck
up who cares..not me why am i even here i dont even know jesus christ im here and i dont know why holy fuck ive never even cared

Anonymous (February 14, 2003)

i like them but i'm from long island

WussEmoRock (February 14, 2003)

I guess I will be the first person on this board to say that I actually found a few of their songs to be quite enjoyable. Much better than their old bands, I'll tell you that.

*****Wuss-Emo-Rock*****

Anonymous (February 13, 2003)

This band is terrible. What the hell is Negative Progression thinking? This guy's singing style is ridiculous.

Anonymous (February 13, 2003)

"This shall serve as an announcement to the cocksucking industry. Yeah, you wanna know something? I'm going to feed you your children. No room for errors. Blemish equals beauty. Your thoughts rival those of an ordinary piece of fruit, and the music you sell is killing all art. Kill. You will all die alone and with no knowledge of what you have destroyed. Please stop pretending to be friendly and cool or anything but the high rent car sales phone slaves that you all are. Throw enough money at a wall and you are bound to cross a sticky bill? It's the grease from your palms and the sweat forced out your forehead by the 18 year old kid that is gonna take your fake job. Soulless, spineless yes-men that have built an industry on stifling creativity. Hitler would be so proud. Company slave. Fuck off and die."

Taken from www.theicarusline.com
pretty funny stuff.

Anonymous (February 12, 2003)

In response to all of you... R&b sucks, rap sucks, pop punk sucks.. Listen to the icarus line!!!!

Anonymous (February 12, 2003)

In response to the guy who wrote "Ok, i went to the reviewer's website and its obvious he doesn't know the first thing about the genre of music this band is in. I have yet to get the album but the mp3's i've heard are awesome and I wouldn't trust a review from somebody who has tour dates for D'angelo or The Roots or Mary J. Blige's video up on their website. But that's just me."

Are you being serious? You wouldn't trust a review from him because, oh god forbid, he actually has GOOD taste in music?!! And sees this contrived fake plastic gross bullshit that is passed off as music by a band like the one mentioned in this review for what it is??

Anonymous (February 12, 2003)

Ok, i went to the reviewer's website and its obvious he doesn't know the first thing about the genre of music this band is in. I have yet to get the album but the mp3's i've heard are awesome and I wouldn't trust a review from somebody who has tour dates for D'angelo or The Roots or Mary J. Blige's video up on their website. But that's just me.

Anonymous (February 12, 2003)

I thought the first paragraph was pretty useless.

-Scotty (work)

Anonymous (February 12, 2003)

speaking of wusses and modern rock sound...what happened to the juliana theory?? that new album sucks...waste of money...what happened to those guys' sound?

Anonymous (February 12, 2003)

you guys are all so punk rock...you should go start a band that would rival Sham 69...if the music is whiny what do you call yourselves?

Anonymous (February 12, 2003)

"Damn this shit is so cheesy. It's 2003 - think about the state of even popular music in 1993 - Dinosaur Jr, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Superchunk, Shiner, Pavement, Jawbox... What the hell has happened?! Bring back the J Mascis & Lou Barlow stylings for the love of god !!"

I agree with you on that, but a lot of those bands you listed weren't very popular.