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Goodtime Boys

Are We Now, Or Have We Ever Been

Written by: DR on 07/07/2012 19:21:17

Yet another feather in the hardcore cap for the UK is Goodtime Boys. This quintet, from Cardiff, have so far released two EPs and have sent them in to be reviewed. Although having been around since 2010 and, so far they only have nine songs and two releases to their name, what they have produced is an impressive output - one that certainly defies their short years.

Despite receiving this record packaged as a nine-track release, it wasn't until I began researching the band that I found out that the version I have is actually two separate releases combined together to make one. The first five tracks are from the EP with the same name, and the remaining four are from a split with a band called Solutions. Although listening to the whole thing, assuming it was all one album, it was always clear that the first half - the more recently released half - is certainly stronger in content. This is because the second half, while decent, is very typical hardcore/punk, and consequently over-shadowed by the more inventine, ultimately superior first half; whereas the first half is both familiar and fresh enough for it to sound sufficiently different for your attentioned to be held, it also expresses a wider range of influences, ranging from post-rock to Converge-y math rock.

Not only do Goodtime Boys have passion - exemplefied by the relentless throaty yell of the frontman Alex Pennie (from The Automatic, remember them?), who threatens to spew his guts at any moment - but they also have a quirky instrumental section that comes to the fore in songs such as "Daylight" and "Sleep". At times Goodtime Boys sound akin to the likes of Touche Amore and Kerouac with typical hardcore chord progressions, then at others, with short spoken-word, or mathy-guitar passages they also remind you of something between La Dispute and The Chariot.

With their more recent material Goodtime Boys establish a sound that could likely get swept away with the current uprising hardcore scene, but don't let that fool you - while it's probably accurate to call them a hardcore band, there's more to them than just that. Goodtime Boys are surely on to something here.

Download: Daylight, Sleep, Harrow
For The Fans of: La Dispute, Touche Amore, Kerouac
Listen: Bandcamp

Release Date 05.12.2011
Holy Roar Records/Tangled Talk Records/Bridge Nine Records