The By Gods
Get On Feelings
Reviewed by: Geno Thackara
The calendar may say 2016 (as hard as that is to believe). But if you’re not sure whether you’re completely on board with that yet, the By Gods’ latest EP could almost let you imagine it’s still 1993 and punkish basement rock is the hottest thing around. It’s obvious as soon as you hit play on “The Stairs,” full of the chugging power chords and one-two drums that graced a thousand lo-fi demo tapes. Once they follow up with “My Way,” it’s as if we’ve discovered a classic lost intro hook that Weezer didn’t get around to using on the blue album.
In classic Superchunk style, this stuff doesn’t need much more than steady strums and a nice loud singalong chorus. George Pauley admits it with easy rhymes: “You knew this all along / You’re not right and you’re not wrong / I’m just a kid with stupid songs.” I wouldn’t say that. They’re simple without being stupid, content to play with the basic building blocks of alternative at its most energetic. It’ll get a live crowd jumping, occasionally headbanging, and always having an exciting time.
You could say Get On Feelings is a dashed-off piece that coasts on familiar crunchy three-chord riffs. You could call it a fresh helping of straightforward power pop. Well…you’re not right and you’re not wrong. It’s a little of both (and if you think it’s easy to make something sound this easy, just try it sometime). This may be more on the basic side of things than I usually prefer, but it’s fresh enough to last a solid 25 minutes without letting up for a second. It leaves me wanting to bang my head a little too, then maybe go check the mailbox for one of those eight-CDs-for-a-penny offers.
Rating: Listenable
