Music
Press
The gloriously politically incorrect garage rockers The Goo Men are out with their second album, Making Love in Tight Spaces, and will hardly (and luckily!) be able to save the world with their sassy fuzz rock. But they have no trouble saving the party.
If you're throwing only one party this year, make sure to invite the guys in The Goo Men, or at least buy this excellent follow-up to their almost as excellent debut album, Shakey! Shakey!. Because, you see, Making Love in Tight Spaces is the very definition of party rock.
- Dagfinn Bergesen, Panorama.no, May 2007
- Panorama.no
Norwegian national newspaper Dagsavisen, 5/6:
"There is a very delicate balance between being stupid and being smart. The Goo Men don't lose their balance. They made their debut last year with Shakey! Shakey!, which yours truly gave a good review. 'Rock should hit closer to the knee than the head. The Goo Men aim low, and despite the raging, up-tempo beats they hone in on the groin with their neck-breaking riffs and frenetic organ escapades,' we wrote back then [May 2006], and that verdict still stands."
- Lars West Johnsen, Dagsavisen, April 2007
- Dagsavisen
Norwegian student newspaper Under Dusken:
"(...) the whole she-bang is reminiscent of a party for hyenas – if we're to employ the savannah metaphor. (...) It feels frighteningly natural to take a really wide stance and play the s**t out of an air guitar to this music. The Goo Men display a strong and contagious energy on stage, and luckily the album format does not restrict this energy.
Making Love in Tight Spaces is a glorious rock album filled to the brim with horniness and energy."
- Morten Fiskvik, Under Dusken, April 2007
- Under Dusken
Danish webzine Gaffa.dk, 4/6:
"No Fucking Hippies is the name of The Goo Men's label. The meaning behind that name reveals itself when you put this baby on your stereo. Making Love in Tight Spaces is an excessively energetic tribute to the heyday of rock'n'roll. Back then, all great rock music was about partying, and it was completely legitimate to write songs about chasing girls across the savannah and give the songs titles like "Party Like a Lion" and "Blame It on the Boogaloo" – and also, back then, keys and saxophone were still common and acceptable parts of a rock act line-up. But then came the hippies. They demanded more Marx in the universities, and they took over rock music and made it part of their mind-expanding rebellious arsenal. A rather positive development in the long run, many might argue, but The Goo Men have no trouble holding their ground. Making Love in Tight Spaces fully proves just how much you can get out of handclaps, backing vocals going ba-ba and lyrics that gather inspiration mainly from the male sex drive. This album might not be very well suited as a backdrop to deep contemplation, but it will be hard to find a better soundtrack for your next barbecue party."
- Erik Barkmann, Gaffa.dk, June 2007
- Gaffa.dk
A good way to describe a band is by referring to a fairly good written review. Here's one, taken from GAFFA, the leading Danish music magazine on web & print:
"The Goo Men
Spot Festival, Gran Teater, Store Sal, Århus - DK
Live
The Goo Men are at home on stage. That became obvious when they hit the stage talking loudly about last minute details, picked up their vintage instruments, and then started. They play a primal kind of rock'n'roll that is similar to e.g. The Hives. The line-up, though, differs somewhat, and consists of drums, bass, guitar, keys, and saxophone.
They're dress in tight black suits, not unlike The Blues Brothers, and the lead singer actually looks like a bearded version of John Belushi. He also has the same preaching features about him. The tight pants emphasize the guitarist's unashamed spasms, which – literally – mainly unfold below the belt. The line-up is classic, and they look like a clip from the Ed Sullivan Show.
The Goo Men give the audience a dose of classic rock'n'roll with the exact right amount of quirks. For example, the audience is treated to a classic fake ending, after which they keep clapping and jumping in rhythm. But the ending turns out to be just a break. It's oh so trite, but The Goo Men deliver the trick with arrogant precision.
Fake endings aside, arrogance is not their thing. The Goo Men give all they've got, both on stage and out among the audience, which is now totally carried away and no longer making use of the seats at Gran Teater. The Goo Men take advantage of their long jack cables and make excursions into the crowd. The saxophone player actually makes it as far as the light guy on the tenth row.
Finally, The Goo Men invite the audience onto the stage, and the whole sha-bang ends with a wild party, during which the band members exchange instruments, the audience bawls "Yeah! Yeah!" into the microphones, and the band brings the gig to a close. At the very end, the lead singer picks up the bass drum and lifts it up above his head like some kind of awkward trophy.
The Goo Men may not be the most original band at Spot, but less will do when one plays with such a considerable portion of coolness and generosity, and at the same time demonstrates to the clearest possible extent that music is meant not for the band itself, but for both the performers and the audience. " - By Filip Granlie - GAFFA, the leading Danish music magazine on web & print
Discography
The Goo Men have released three albums (distribution through VME):
Shakey! Shakey!
Making Love In Tight Places
Three Thumbs Up!
The Goo Men released their third album, Three Thumbs Up! on Feb 9th 2010, in Norway, Finland and Denmark.
Peter Zaremba from The Fleshtones wrote the linernotes:
"I hope you're sitting down, or shall I say
-I hope you're ready to jump right up again and starting swinging after you get blown over by this 3rd and newest album by The Goo Men.
Sallying forth from the fjords like the Northmen of old (but with much better haircuts) The Goo Men have struck an unsuspecting civilized world once again, bringing us hot, hot sounds from the cool, cool North. With promising titles like 'D-Y-N-Amite' and 'Boom Boom Hama Lama Bama Lou' I assure you these boys not only speak impeccable English, but The International Language Of Rock And Roll.
Although they first teamed up in Oslo in 1999, our first encounter with these rockin' lads only occurred last year deep inside an Atomic Bomb-proof bunker (this is true) buried deep within a mountain in the death metal capital of the world -Bergen, Norway. We were sharing a bill (as well as their gear, thanks boys!) and were totally unprepared for what was to come. Gunner, Knut, Per-Ivar, Petter, Tommy and Arnt delivered the goods in their own way -unique, with a presence I can only call arresting. Arresting? I'll say sensational. A good thing the place was constructed of solid concrete, rock and steel because they unleashed a R&R cyclone in that subterranean venue the likes of which hadn't been witnessed since the heyday of Liverpool's Cavern Club (read 'It Was All Me', Lamprey Leech, Vanity Press, 1973). Well, actually there were only a few dozen fans there (damn this obsession with football!), but they were the luckiest people in Bergen that night. Who cares who won the football game! The Fleshtones immediately agreed that the Goo Men can't help but be the latest teen sensation. If only teens listened to real rock and roll these days (what do they listen to?). This record, however, might just do the trick, or at least turn your next sophisticated soiree into a drunken rave-up. So I give this record not just thumbs up, but THREE Thumbs up. THREE? Slap this baby on the turntable and let it rip. You'll see why…"
- Peter Zaremba, Hitsburg USA, 2009
Photos
Bio
Previous gigs include the Øya Festival and Quart Festival in Norway, the Hultsfred Festival in Sweden, and Gutter Island and Spot in Denmark, as well as supporting The Fleshtones on tour in Norway, and Baby Woodrose and The Blue Van in Denmark. They've played close to 150 gigs over the past two years.
People who like The Goo Men, also tend to like: King Khan & His Shrines, Eagles Of Death Metal, Eli “Paperboy” Reed, The Dirtbombs, Andre Williams, Make Up, Reigning Sound, The Fleshtones and The Hives.
Artist: The Goo Men
Label: No Fucking Hippies
Catalogue number: HIPFUCK003CD / HIPFUCK003LP
Distribution: VME
Promotion: HelperMonkey
Booking:
Amber Booking
Vegard Strømsodd
vegard@amber.no
Sannergata 11
0557 Oslo
NORWAY
office: +47 23 23 31 31
mobile + 47 936 80 222
Album title: Three Thumbs Up!
Release date: February 8th, 2010
The Goo Men have been brewing up some seriously potent stuff in their black voodoo pot lately. A slab of rock, a dash of sleazy soul and a bit of nasty, old blues have been boiling and seething in there for a while now, and the unholy result is 12 bastard songs. The Goo Men's new album, Three Thumbs Up!, saw the light of day towards the end of 2009, and now these six Norwegian witch doctors are bringing it out of the dark woods and to the people.
Packing Three Thumbs Up! and muskets loaded to the muzzle with fuzz, Farfisa and general grooviness, The Goo Men will yet again set out on the highway to spread loud, outgoing and sleazy music of the groovy and primitive kind. Did I say primitive? I hope you didn't interpret that as a negative word. The Goo Men sure don't. This band, with their shiny Chelsea boots and tight black suits, leads the crusade for the innermost and holiest of feelings – stemming from a place somewhat south of the heart and a bit north of the knees. Unbelievers and infidels will be given no quarter when the suit-clad knights of rock and immorality make their landing – they will open up a can of whoop-ass and distribute a hearty serving of it, too.
It's been three years since their last serious bender, when the album Making Love In Tight Spaces (based on a true story) was released to the great pleasure of some and the great annoyance of others (fools!). During these three years, The Goo Men have raided cities and countryside alike, and there's now hardly a beer-serving, venue-resembling joint in Norway left which these crazy bastards haven't turned upside down at some point or other. And it's only going to get worse from now on – mark my words!
Three Thumbs Up! was recorded and mixed at the very stronghold of feel-good, analogous recording: Grand Sport Studio in Oslo. The recording process was skillfully brought to port by Professor of Sound Christian Engfelt, known to many as a long-standing supplier of great sounds as a technician, producer, musician and overall cool cat. The last drop of voodoo juice was added – completely analogously – during the mastering by Björn Engelmann at Cutting Room in Stockholm.
Three thumbs up and boundless awe to great names of old such as Muddy Waters amd Screaming Jay Hawkins, by way of those who bared their souls at Stax Studios, to our brothers in arms in contemporary garage rock!
Three thumbs up for Three Thumbs Up!
Links
