Much of Gogogoairheart's second self-titled album was written and recorded
in their basement. Like most misfits banished to the basement (e.g., the
stereotypical evil twin), Gogogoairheart have adapted to the subterranean
by becoming slurred, distorted, and not quite right. While they have grown
accustomed to their dank environs, they still haven't lost their spite for
those above them in the surface world, their heavy bass rocking the terrain and
shrieking guitar noise piercing through.
Gogogoairheart's style is like that of 70s/80s post punk bands like The Fall
filtered through late 90s style stutter/noise punk as led by U.S. Maple. At
the heart of almost every song on their second self-titled album is a fluid
bass line. The bass line keeps the song going, persistent and driving, while
the keyboards, guitars, drums, and singer Mike Vermillion slur and squeal.
When the band decides to up the rock quotient, they even end up sounding
like Sebadoh's more rock Bubble & Scrape-era moments. That's right, we're
not talking "Soul and Fire" here; we're talking Eric Gaffney and
"Elixir is Zog." Gogo's "Glad to See You" rambles and rumbles with similar
mentally distorted straightforwardness.
Vermillion's soulful vocals are a strong point to the music despite their
similarity to Ian Svenious of the Make Up and the bands' similarly bare bones
lineup. But while the Make Up lives inside the joke to the point where,
when they're being serious, it's hard to tell the difference, Gogogoairheart
wasn't able to tell it was a joke in the first place. That's actually a good
thing, though, because, in other words, they approach music as music instead of
fashion.
The strong bass playing of A. Vyas and Vermillion's singing are enough to
carry this album, and J. Hough's drumming is solid though acting mainly in a
supporting role. Gogogoairheart far surpasses fake soul bands like the Make Up,
though, with Ben White's keyboards, guitars, and random noise. White's guitar
playing screams out in Tourette-ian spurts, like in "20 Darts," forcing out a
manic phrase during the song's intro and repeating it intermittently throughout
the song. His keyboards are used usually to either add random bursts of
texture, as in the whirling noises of "In Case of Evidence," or to support and
round out the bass parts, as in "For Your Will."
What do you have in your basement? Old furniture? Boxes full of
nothing? Dust? Well, Gogogoairheart have made a home down there. That
environment and recording style adds much to the band's sound, making it
more raw, dirty, and forceful. If this record were done in a studio and
ended up any at all slick, the songs wouldn't sound nearly as good.
Addendum (2000 oct 2): According to Ben White, none of this album was
recorded in or near a basement. Sorry for the misinformation. Part was recorded
in a garage, part at the Che Cafe.
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