Strangetown Records 8th September, 2017
The sixties have never been more present than now (except the actual Sixties, that is). Thankfully this is an idealised Sixties, as opposed to the real decade, which was likely to be as full of pop crap as this one. El Goodo are in thrall to the Sixties and are one of a number of bands digging back to the past for structures for their new work.
The songs here make me think of the Small Faces, Sandie Shaw, The Hollies, The Tremeloes, Duane Eddy, The Shandells, The Ronettes, certain Motown bands, even early Beatles (check out Lay It On My Honey”). But also great sixties revivalists like ELO or the Lightning Seeds. These could be cover versions for all I know; the verisimilitude is so strong.
Cian Ciaran from Super Furry Animals likes the band and produced the album from tapes recorded over eight years and released it on his own label. This is the band’s second album and they’ve taken their time in recording this, stacking up time in a disused cinema in their home village of Resolven, at the slightly less run down end of the Head Of The Valleys road running along the top of the ruins of Welsh industry. Clearly a labour of love, the band’s adoration of melody, harmony and beat groups shines bright. They recorded the album on a 16-track machine with a small collection of battered and dodgy equipment. Elliott Jones, the drummer (his brother, Jason, plays guitar) saw the words “Loyal Order Of Moose” carved into stone on the side of a building in Neath and they agreed on it as the album title. Jason drew the intricate album cover too – it’s a home-grown effort.
They borrow bits from here and there and those better informed than me might manage more than my flicker of recognition. I keep feeling the name of the drum pattern here or the chorus there or the intro somewhere else on the tip of my tongue. But it’s not a bad thing, it grabbed my attention throughout with its super-catchy choruses, riffs and rhythms.
There is plenty of space in the world for well-crafted, beaty pop songs.