GOZER GOODSPEED – EP REVIEW

Gozer Goodspeed – Rebuilt & Remade EP 

Release Date: May 2021

Creative people have approached the restrictions of the global pandemic in a whole host of different ways but Plymouth’s Gozer Goodspeed has taken the opportunity to pause and revisit some of his former tunes as well as writing new ones. ‘Rebuilt & Remade’ is 80% new versions of previous songs and 20% one new composition which hints at what is to come but it is 100% excellent listening.

The EP opens with ‘Ear to the Ground’ which slows the track right down for some smokey, bluesy treatment allowing Goodspeed to show off his excellent pick work to embellish the gaps without losing the slow train chug. ‘Pumas and Neon Signs’ has an added moodiness with a lonely guitar line drifting over the top of the acoustic riffs as Goodspeed’s rasping roots vocal rings out into the night air. The middle track is ‘Running With The Outliers’ which is one of my favourite tracks from the back catalogue but the quality of the song stands up to being slowed down and Goodspeed’s self-harmonising vocals give the tune a richness and warmth that it’s hard to resist.

The ‘O, Brother Where Art Thou’ vocals that open ‘February Alost Broke Me’ transport you from the cold, wet Plymouth winters to the balmy, stillness of a Bible belt afternoon with heavy acoustic riffs chiming out from the stoop. The closing track of the EP is the title track, ‘Rebuilt and Remade’, and it has a swagger to it that speaks of things to come. The blues and roots style is still there but there’s something more thoughtful, more progressive (not prog, though) and Goodspeed’s voice sounds fuller with a sound that that will work well on both sides of the pond. There’s an album to come and more (r)evolution from Gozer Goodspeed but this is a good opportunity to sit back and enjoy the ‘story so far’ part of this particular tale.

More information: https://www.facebook.com/gozergoodspeed