Goodluck Jonathan is the 14th and current president of Nigeria, but also a band who create a sound which mixes up elements of genres from mellow indie, dance and rock. They aren’t afraid to let the intensity of their percussion sway them into the beloved rock category which is achieved through thundering drums and a heavy injection of almost seductive bass lines in their songs. If this doesn’t appeal to you, then turn away and get back to your scrabble set.
They claim to have a passionate love of rum, mocking the percussion section, and annoying the Nigerian President by misdirecting his Twitter traffic to their profile which can only encourage a humour fuelled image to add to their unique sound. So they have a unique sound and a unique image. Now what? Well to top that they have just released a debut album which will shake your spine into submission.
‘This is Our Way Out’ spells out a do or die attitude and makes it clear that they have poured their heart and soul into this first effort at hitting the industry hard. There are particular elements to this record which make it gleam with a particular unique quality, one of them being the use of lyrics dictating disaster without moping around. They cut to the point with their songs and with an average of about three minutes per track, you aren’t left pondering for one second. Third track ‘Broken Heart’ strikes me as something special as a greeting of ‘my arms are open wide for you’ explodes into an atmospheric thunder cloud of indie rock. There are subtle qualities to note such as the likeable qualities to their front man’s vocals as he explorers softer ranges to his voice as well as soaring into the atmospheric choruses.
His accent is refreshing. It’s brutally British but not as America interprets it to be. The record continues to rally on with ‘Backs to the Wall’ maintaining a flourishing indie theme to their songs as well as smashing home the more rock fuelled elements to their sound. Goodluck Jonathan has struck gold here but they must take this gold and gamble on its value if they want to discover something we will be talking about for decades to come.
I will tell you now, if you want to experience this record for what it really is, don’t just listen to one or two tracks now and then, dedicate your time to giving it a solid listen from start to finish. These songs should appeal to anyone as the diversity to their sound will ripen the taste buds of even the narrower minded listeners.
Track Listing
1. Bruises Disappear
2. Stranded
3. Broken Hearts
4. Lights Burn My Eyes
5. Fatman
6. Fall of America
7. Backs to the Wall
8. Away From Here
9. Mad Licks
10. Stop
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Video
Words by George.
