Gritty, yet not polished, I’ll Never Be Okay, I’ll Never Be the Same is the second full-length effort from Philadelphia’s Goddamnit, a record hard to consider a sophomore effort from a group made up Philadelphia scene veterans.

I’ll Never Be Okay is dynamic from start to finish with big, guitar driven soundscapes that wear their nineties post-hardcore influences on their sleeves without sounding worn out or derivative. From the audio imagery of “Letterbox” to the hard driving “Steady Diet of Sugar” and “What Was Left”, Goddamnit swing and sway skillfully somewhere between a sonnet and pile driver almost at will. The almost out of place “The Message” not only shows the band’s range, but willingness to step away from the rest of the record and finish in a different stride.