Good Times Crisis Band

Texas Platters
BY GREG BEETS
Good Times Crisis Band
Select a Gather Point (Australian Cattle God)
Good Times Crisis Band is a study in out-of-time contradictions. The tightfisted local guitar/bass/drums trio channels ZZ Top's Tres Hombres by way of the Minutemen's Double Nickels on the Dime against a lyrical backdrop espousing human resilience in the face of postmodern cynicism. Select a Gather Point then buzzes between the creases with a forward-facing energy all its own. GTCB's attention to arrangement highlights all three pieces playing off one another as opposed to just following chord progressions. Maybe a laptop could approximate spatial dynamics with more scientific accuracy, but it wouldn't get blood flowing like "Cyber Freee" does. "This Will Pass" powers through the valley of despair on a stoic verse and triumphant chorus, while "Z.Z. Zephyr" invokes the Zilker Park train in a bid for rekindling transcendence. It's the perfect post-punk soundtrack for obliterating your old hard drive.
- Greg Beets

The Big Takeover
1713 8th Ave. Rm. 5-2
Brooklyn, NY 11215


This tightly wound trio is led by guitarist/singer Bill Corsello, who also moonlights as the
general manager of Emo’s nightclub in Austin Tx. Their label aptly describes them as
“poppy, quirky and sassy”, and they remind me a lot of Shudder To Think or a less weighty (but still plenty loud) Burning Airlines/Jawbox, with a little Minutemen and
Mission of Burma mixed in. Corsello’s guitar squalls are razor sharp and abrasive, yet dreamy and contemplative, and he delivers his arty, poetic lyricism a voice that recalls
Burma’s Roger Miller. Further their music is sturdily anchored by the springy elastic bass lines of Steven Mullins and David Hobizal’s hard-hitting drumming. Topped off with hot production, these are 13 attention-grabbing slabs of vigorous, diverse post-punk.
- Mark Suppanz

TARGET.COM

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/601-8322922-7163328?asin=B000WGZGPQ&afid=yahoosspplp_bmvd&lnm=B000WGZGPQ|Select_a_Gather_Point_:_Music&ref=tgt_adv_XSNG1060

"Emo's own Bill Corsello jostles early nineties noise rock with Good Times Crisis Band." -- Austin Chronicle
This is songwriter Bill Corsello (Emo's) in his apologist phase. A complete misanthrope with a universalistic voice, he has assassinated characters--his own and other people's--in past musical efforts (Monkeyspank, Stress Magnets, Ye Olde Castletons, Vodka Family Winstons). Select a Gather Point is an olive branch extended to those living, dead, sick, young, cuckolded, and raked. A departure from the assembly line of "product," this recording delivers depth in solid number after number. An intellectual's type of rock with a wide array of ideas and interesting structures. A Scrabble players' brand of rock with a peculiar prolixity and many obscure references all placed on a bed of good, clean post-punk instrumentation.
- Lilly Mansberg

Editorial Reviews
It's a bit odd that Austin trio the Good Times Crisis Band are on the forbiddingly experimental label Australian Cattle God, because they're at heart a fairly basic new wave revival act. Select a Gather Point is chock-full of jittery-jangly guitars, melodic basslines in the post-Joy Division tradition, and prominent hyperactive drums, with guitarist Bill Corsello's vocals usually buried fairly deep in the mix. Listening to a song like "Chautauqua," the first thing that comes to mind is that this bracing blend of an urgent rhythm section and a guitarist who favors his high end must be what R.E.M. sounded like in their very earliest days, when making the Pylon-worshiping college kids of Athens dance was the highest priority. But eventually, the listener notices that all 13 songs follow the same basic template, which dampens the pleasure of tunes like "Lows and Highs" a bit. There's a potentially very good band here, but some tweaking of the Good Times Crisis Band's sound would add a lot more variety and enjoyment to the proceedings. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide All Music Guide
- Stewart Mason