“THE D” - STILL ROCKIN' THE GARAGE

Recently, I was watching an episode of the new show, Crash (spin-off of sorts of the movie by the same name. Not the one by Cronenberg. I mean the Crash that got best picture in ’05. At the end they played a song that had me jotting down lyrics as quickly as possible so I might have a chance of finding out what it was. After a short search, I lucked out and arrived on the musical doorstep of a Detroit group called The Go. Who knew? Well, since they already have a good rep across the States, and have at least three albums out, the answer to that question is, "Not me!"

Part of the reason for this lapse is that these days I’ve pretty much given up on contemporary pop music. If I’m not listening to my vintage oldies, I’m sticking pretty close to the alt folk and/or alt country scene – Neko Case, Cat Power, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, the Be Good Tanyas – and pop like Coldplay and Five for Fighting. No pop princesses, no Fitty, no Diddy. I don’t look down on those who like it; it’s just not for me. So imagine my surprise when I heard The Go. I felt like everything was going to be all right again.

The Go have been compared to many 60s and 70s classic bands. I hear hints from the Stones, Hendrix, some early 60s rock and even early Beatles. Oh, and throw in a little T-Rex while we’re at it. The list goes on; everybody hears something of his or her personal favorites, too. But The Go’s music can’t be dismissed as simply derivative. Their not just retreads of the golden oldies. This stuff manages to kick out the jams 21st Century style while still sounding like an album you could have, would have, bought and worn out on your record player decades ago. The song that I heard on Crash is called “So Long Johnny” from the album Howl On The Haunted Beat You Ride. Hmmm, I wish they would’ve consulted me before they went with that title… Oh well, anyway, a video of the song “So Long Johnny” is on YouTube twice, but they are both such shakey recordings, musically and visually, I don’t feel right about posting them here as an example for you, my valued readers. Obviously you can check it out for yourselves if so inclined. I will put in a URL to Amazon.com so you can hear clips of each song on the album.


Photo of Detroit skyline from Wikimedia commons