Mom's Basement Records, 18 December 2020
Goin' Places give us a quick sampler of where they're at and what's to come.
New York pop punks Goin' Places do a lot of pretty cool stuff, at once indebted to the originators (Ramones) and to some of the 90's acolytes (The Queers come to mind, who recently released an album called Save The World). Since the Goin' Places debut, Girl Songwriting 101, the band has really been sporadically active, releasing a second full length (2012's Relationship Sneakers) and playing out from time to time. But the quarantine afforded time, and Goin' Places have decided to go all in with a new full length (oddly, also called Save The World) dropping not too far down the line. As a tease, the band just delivered the new Better Things To Do EP, featuring the new full length's title track and a couple of exclusive songs.
Starting with “Save The World”, Goin' Places sound like they never left. It comes in acoustically with a nice bubblegum melody that sounds lifted from a 50's doo wop song or something of that era. After a run through, the acoustic intro pauses (sort of an awkward and long pause) and then blasts into a buzzing catchy chorus. Full of call-and-response vocals and with deceptively fun singalongs, the song plants a flag in your brain and digs in for the long haul. It's catchy as can be and loaded with energy – no lethargy here. It's really got me amped for the full length.
The other two songs (both exclusive to this release) do their own good thing. The title track, “Better Things To Do”, is a quick pop burner, going by in a little less than a minute and a half. It's really simple and a little obnoxious (this is meant as a compliment). It's got a great simple guitar riff and the shared back-and-forth vocals are really endearing. The obvious “Instru Mental” buzzes past and has a lead guitar that plays a melody that really reminds me of the opening theme from “Pee Wee's Christmas Special” – an odd association, I suppose, but it trips the nostalgia wire in my brain, so I like it. It's a fun close to a fun catchy release.
Better Things To Do isn't going to take up a lot of your time, but the songs are going to leave a mark. They're catchy and fun and simple, and both songs with words are real singalongs. It's a good release by itself and it's got me really excited to hear the Save The World full length soon.
Favorite song: “Save The World”
Favorite moment: the call-and-response vocals all over the place on “Better Things To Do”
Favorite whatever else: the Pee Wee-nostalgia lead guitar melody on “Instru Mental”
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He's very secretive, he might be an alien.