Punknews.org

|
Sign In | create an account

Good Luck

Into Lake Griffy (2008)
self-released

Reviewer Rating:

User Rating:

Contributed by: Justin
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on September 12th 2008

Good Luck start their debut with "How to Live Here," a song that sets the tone for the whole album: It's fast without being aggressive, melancholy without being navel gazing, positive without being a put-on. It also makes you feel like it's 90 degrees outside and you've got no choice but to sweat it out. As the band continues, you begin to get the equation of the band: It's equal parts noodly, clean guitars with punchy basslines and jazzy drum fills. It meshes together very well, creating a very unique sound that almost asks for comparisons to bands like the Weakerthans in their early years.

Tracks like "Pajammin" get their groove on, while the duo of "Stars Were Exploding" and "Bringing Them Back to Life" showcase the songwriting and vocal talents of frontpeople Matt Tobey (Matty Pop Chart) and Ginger Alford (One Reason, Love Zombie), with "1001 Open Hands" displaying how anthemic you can be without being trite. The band takes a lot of the best elements of the respective players' previous acts while infusing their sound with a very jammy, clean aesthetic. The whole disc is very unique, defying easy classification and comparisons.

I'd be remiss to review this without mentioning the fact that the disc has not left the car stereo in nearly three months, was the soundtrack to a recent cross-country trip, and has been topping my Last.FM charts for some time. Simply put, this is the best album I've heard this year and despite new releases from some of my favorite bands (Dead to Me, Dillinger Four, Alkaline Trio, the Constantines) I don't see that changing.

Login to rate this album

People who liked this also liked:

Please login or register to post comments.

What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?

Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

literamaniac (September 13, 2010)

Great album, strong review. The Last FM link is now outdated, but I'm taking your word for it because I can't imagine people NOT wanting to listen to this non-stop.

ConJohn (January 1, 2009)

Album of the year

Such a great band, saw them at Fest and was blown away. This album is solid from start to finish. Its amazing that there hasnt been much hype about it.

ConsolationPrizefighter (November 26, 2008)

This album is ridiculously good. If you can't get into it in the least there's probably something wrong with you.

thestatewillwitheraway (October 8, 2008)

this is amazing

SilentStorms (September 17, 2008)

"despite new releases from some of my favorite bands (Dead to Me, Dillinger Four, Alkaline Trio, the Constantines)"

Dude, that ALKTRIO cd fucking suuuucked, if you liked that why would I listen to this?

eyepatchguy (September 15, 2008)

These guys are (somehow) even better live. Plus, Matt's beard is intense.

dakotacore (September 14, 2008)

Damn, I really like this. Good review.

dante3000 (September 13, 2008)

Glad I don't have to review this. The album is amazing. Like fucking amazing amazing. Like, listen to it and then be like, "wow" that shit was off the hizook.
That's right, "Hizook"
-Dante

shanholtzer (September 13, 2008)

i was drunk when I read/wrote and thought the beginning of the second paragraph was just a list of "yr fav tracks" or something.

after readinggggg what you said about "2 different sides" to one story i listen to both tracks back to back and only really notice that the girl uses "he" where Matt used "I". I knew the tracks were essentially 2 different versions of the same song. I didn't notice that the sentence actually read "the duo of "Stars Were Exploding" and "Bringing Them Back to Life" showcase the songwriting and vocal talents of frontpeople Matt Tobey (Matty Pop Chart) and Ginger Alford" My bad. I'm dumb.

fuzzy (September 13, 2008)

"stars were exploding" and "brining them back to life" are the same song

Really? Hadn't noticed.

If you actually listen, its the same story, sung from two different perspectives. I think it works really well.

kidentropy (September 13, 2008)

Into Lake Griffy is such a remarkably consistent album. Every song is incredibly catchy, well written and full of fantastic musicianship. If you get a chance, see these guys live. It's amazing watching them play all these complex riffs and sing at the same time.

shanholtzer (September 13, 2008)

"stars were exploding" and "brining them back to life" are the same song

xIxKilledxJesusx (September 12, 2008)

this has members from one reason right? i was never into that band but this band is fucking great

elephantdwarf (September 12, 2008)

"It's fast without being aggressive, melancholy without being navel gazing, positive without being a put-on. It also makes you feel like it's 90 degrees outside and you've got no choice but to sweat it out."

this doesn't make this sound appealing. at all...

greg0rb (September 12, 2008)

I was so pleasantly surprised by the Matty Pop Chart album I got to review that I really should check this out. Have only listened to their myspace stuff thus far- not bad.
-Greg

icapped2pac (September 12, 2008)

Sounds too quirky-kitschy for me.

chokingvictim (September 12, 2008)

this album is amazing. too good.