Oxford Records – 22 Feb 2022
Down Goes Goodman Gets Back Up With New EP
Okay… This five-song pop-punk EP has really thrown me through a loop. At first listen, I loved it, but I couldn’t figure out why. Sure, it’s catchy. Sure, it’s well executed from a technical perspective. But why did I listen to this EP a dozen times (no exaggeration) in a matter of two days? I went back to their 2018 album Prestissimo, (which is labeled as metal on iTunes Music), and it didn’t have nearly the same amount of flare. It was a “one and done” for me. But alas, I think I’ve figured it out.
I Thought We Were Hanging Out has key elements of three of my favorite pop-punk albums of all time. It has the rhythm, vocal melody, and catchy lyrics reminiscent of Gob’s 2003 album Foot in Mouth Disease. It has the guitar technicality, pace, and depth of Rufio’s 2001 album Perhaps, I Suppose. And finally, it has similarly amazing drum beats and heavy riffs that fill Sum 41’s 2002 album Does This Look Infected? which borders on metal. Disclaimer: I do not make these comparisons lightly, at all. These albums are held in extremely high regard. If you’re a fan of those three bands or those specific albums, this EP is absolutely for you!
The first song of the EP is called “Break Walls”, and it kickstarts the record with a minute of fast-paced poppy, punky bliss. After that minute, the guitars sustain, and we are thrown through any absolutely immaculate transition to the second track “Shiner”. On this song, we get a full taste of the extra clean vocal performance that will ride through the rest of the EP. The rhythmic palm-muting, the backing vocals, the pre-chorus and chorus lyrics, the song structure, and the guitar solo make this my favorite song of the record. Honestly, the transition is so satisfying, I’ve just been putting on “Break Walls” and listening to the two tracks as one.
The third song, “Apt. 112”, is so catchy it’s almost not fair. The song structure is super engaging and won’t leave anyone asking, “Is this song over yet?” Track four is called “No Way Out”, and despite it being my least favorite track, it is still very, very good. The band utilizes the bridge to throw in a very distant-sounding drum pattern that I find both innovative and intriguing.
The fifth and final track, “One Way Street”, begins with a nicely reverbed (almost) clean guitar accompanied by some soft drums followed by heavily phased guitars that give me some Angels and Airwaves vibes (in a good, good way). After a quick minute, we get treated to the first verse which features a primary and secondary guitar riff and melt together like butter. This song about realizing when to cut ties with a friend who uses you caught my attention with the second verse lyrics, “Reset my head, time is up, I think I’ve had enough / This friendship’s dead, the pills I swallow won’t go down that rough”.
As far as I’m concerned, I Thought We Were Hanging Out is completely solid. So what went wrong on Prestissimo? My opinion is that the band was exploring their potential and ended up with sound that was good but felt flimsy. If I could send one message to Down Goes Goodman, it would be something like, “Please don’t go back to the overstretched version of yourselves on Prestissimo, because this newly tightened and refined DGG is too good to not hear more of”. If they keep this up, they’re easily one of my new favorite bands.
Tom B. Bearded is a news editor and reviewer for TGEFM. He recently emerged from the scraggly woods near your home.
