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