The Good North
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The Good North

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The best kept secret in music

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"Boston Globe"

Britpop spoken here

From its modest start in an Allston basement, the Good North knew it wanted to pull off a neat trick -- one that also sounded like an oxymoron.

"We all had this concept of being an American Britpop band -- Oasis, the Stone Roses, and that sort of thing," recalls singer Luke O'Neil, who describes his group as a "bunch of Anglophiles" who has always been drawn to the self-made glamour of UK outfits such as the Smiths and the Cure.

"There's a sense of melodrama" among those groups, he says, "but there's also a sense of confidence. . . . of style."

O'Neil, a music editor at the Weekly Dig newspaper, had never been in a band before musician friends overheard him singing a Radiohead song accompanying himself on acoustic guitar.

"They said, `Hey, you can sing.' And I said `I guess so,' " remembers O'Neil. "We just started practicing in the basement of this house in Allston, one thing led to another, and it kind of took off."

Now, on the heels of an EP that came out last autumn, the Good North are about to release "An Explanation," its first full-length album, for the indie Cambridge label Primary Voltage (www.primaryvoltage.com). The band, which also includes guitarists Johnny Healey and Mick Taggart; bass player Dave Riley; and drummer Mike Morrissey, headlines a CD-release party tomorrow night at the Middle East Upstairs.

Listeners looking for the qualities O'Neil so covets -- melodrama, confidence, style -- won't be hard-pressed to find them in "An Explanation." The album teems with densely ringing electric guitars, grand melodic gestures, and a panoramic sweep of space and sound that suggests a range of influences: early U2 ("Visions of You"), midperiod Radiohead ("The Center Cannot Hold"); and "Love"-era Cult ("Television Life"). O'Neil's impassioned vocals, which echo the spirit of epic-minded singers like Bono and Thom Yorke, and closer to home, the Sheila Divine's Aaron Perrino, enhance the anthemic atmosphere of the disc.

Early on, O'Neil says, the Good North fell prey to the pitfalls that can beset a fledgling band trying to make a dramatic splash: "Someone once said Radiohead was the worst thing to happen to young bands because now everyone has these ideals that are above what they can actually do when they start out. So we were trying to do that at first -- be really dark and experimental."

Once the group saw how enthusiastically audiences responded to the poppier songs in its repertoire, however, all that changed. "Now everything we write is really upbeat," says O'Neil. "There's nothing better than seeing people move around."

Unlike arty Radiohead-inspired outfits such as Sigur Ros, which appears to have discarded any traditional pop framework in its quest for experimentation, the Good North is opting to write actual rock songs with hooks and choruses -- for now, at least. "I would love to be able to be that pretentious," O'Neil says with a laugh. "But we're not quite there yet."
- Jonathan Perry


"The Lowell Sun"

The Good North has a good recipe

The easiest way for a music journalist to describe a new band's sound is to compare it to other, well-known outfits. Accordingly, and since I can never let it be said that I didn't take the easiest way out, I will tell you that The Good North, which plays Evos Arts in Lowell tomorrow night, sounds a little bit like The Smiths, a little bit like U2 (the early, rougher stuff), a little like Radiohead, and a tiny bit like Weezer.

That's a strange musical stew, to be sure, and it's probably hard to imagine The Good North's music by stirring those ingredients together in your brain. So maybe this is easier: This is a very good band.

Their first full-length release, No Explanation, was packaged by Cambridge indie label Primary Voltage and hit the street early this year. A sterling collection of a dozen poppy gems, the album fulfills the promise of their initial EP, Define Worth Waiting, which first made waves upon its release last fall.

Though they aspire to be America's answer to British art-house rock, to describe their music in those terms would make it sound more esoteric than it really is. There's no pretense to a song like "Postcards," the first song on No Explanation, just a straight-ahead rocker with an intoxicating, swirling chorus.

This is guitar-driven stuff, to be sure, but the slicing string work never overpowers frontman Luke O'Neil's solid, biting vocal work. O'Neil isn't too far removed himself from employing music journalism shorthand before hooking up with The Good North, he was toiling as a scribe for Boston freebie The Weekly Dig.

As the story goes, a couple of musician friends overheard O'Neil, who had never been in a band before joining TGN, singing along to a Radiohead song and encouraged him to test out his voice on stage. Soon enough, the Boston pals had bonded to form a band, and the buzz started to build.

The strong word-of-mouth about Define Worth Waiting and No Explanation have made bookings in the Northeast start to flow, and TGN has been playing venues all around Boston and New York City. This weekend's show marks their first trip to Lowell, and it's a great chance for locals to catch a band on the rise. But don't start thinking you're a big shot and start comparing them to other, well-known bands. That's my job.

The Good North plays Evos Arts on Middle Street tomorrow at 9 p.m., along with Plastic Pilot and Idiot Tom. The 21-plus show starts at 9 p.m. Cover is $5.
- Austin O'Connor


"Filter Online"

If Color Me Badd, Matchbox 20, or REO Speedwagon is listed as a band’s influence, I usually take that as my cue to stop reading. Hundreds of record reviews inundate me each month so if it becomes apparent early on that the band reviewed is gonna suck, then why waste the time. Boston-based band The Good North experienced a different kind of bias. Comparisons with bands like the Smiths, the Cure, early U2, and even current rock gods Radiohead, gave them a lot to live up to before their new disc even met my player. With past trends being co-opted at an alarming rate and the 80’s revival in full swing, I was naturally cynical.

Consequently the first listening left me dumbfounded. There were no jangly guitars, no outrageous brit-pop affectations; instead, what I heard was dense, guitar work, and an emo-pop sensibility. Singer Luke O’Neil’s voice is immediately recognizable as one of the bands’ greatest strengths. Alternating between soaring Thom Yorke-ness, and the controlled power of Jeremy Enigk on early Sunny Day Real Estate stuff, O’Neil’s voice is always impressive. Musically, the Good North is equally postmodern. “Visions of You” boasts Disintegration-esque guitar work, “This is Your Final Chance” wears its punk rock influence on its sleeve, and the bands’ professed love of Idlewild will hardly come as a surprise, but it works.

Though not entirely original, An Explanation is not without appeal. The Good North is the sound of guys taking what that they listened to, loved, and learned from the music of the 80’s and 90’s and making it their own. Better with each listen, standout tracks include “Postcards,” “Visions of You,” and “Why Can’t We Dance.”
- Geoff Barnett


Discography

Sept. 2002 - The Good North "Define Worth Waiting" EP [PVR VOLT001]
Jan. 2003 - The Good North "An Explanation" LP [PVR VOLT004]
June 2002=3 - "Your New Favorite CD Summer 2003" feat. TGN's "Postcards" [PVR VOLT005]

Radio airplay on over 100 stations.

For audio sample, visit www.primaryvoltage.com.

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

The Good North have firmly established themselves as one of the must-see buzz bands in Boston and New York. They have relentlessly played club and college dates across the northeast; their stunning debut An Explanation has become a critics' favorite; their music has played on over a hundred radio stations, including influential K-Rock (NYC) and WBCN (Boston).

TGN have pioneered a new genre in rock – combining the lush hooks of Britpop with an aggressive edge that is unmistakably American. The Boston Globe concurs that TGN's artful attack "teems with densely ringing electric guitars, grand melodic gestures, and a panoramic sweep of space and sound."

The future looks bright for the band, with a national tour slotted for the summer as the praise and the dynamic and dramatic songs continue to roll in.