Good Seems to be: Lived Right here for a Whereas Album Evaluation

It’s tough on the market for plenty of indie rock bands, however Austin’s Good Seems to be have actually been by means of the shit. The day after they launched their 2022 debut, Bummer 12 months, guitarist Jake Ames was almost killed in a hit-and-run. The band postpone touring whereas he slowly recovered, and once they did lastly hit the street, their van caught hearth and so they misplaced the whole lot: gear, devices, laptops, merch, private results, the whole lot. A much less dedicated group may need taken both of those tragedies as an indication from the universe, however to their credit score Good Seems to be are a foolhardy lot. Whereas they don’t tackle these trials on their follow-up, Lived Right here for a Whereas, they play like their lives rely upon it.

Lived Right here for a Whereas views the world from a blazing tour van. These songs aren’t nearly what they see out on the street, however what they depart behind. Lovers develop distant, buddies fade away, cities increase past recognition. “This was once a Black neighborhood,” frontman Tyler Jordan exclaims on “White Out”, and few songwriters might make gentrification sound so deftly (or wittily: “Look out! They’re jogging! and so they’re bringing their canine with ’em!”). At any time when they tour, they by no means return to precisely the place they left, which churns up a way of unease in these songs: The tempos are just a bit too quick; the guitars bypass jangle and head straight for the jitters.

Too usually, indie self-awareness can come throughout as self-regarding and off-putting, like a novel about how exhausting it’s to be a novelist. What number of listeners can relate to tales of lengthy hauls and empty venues? To their credit score, Good Seems to be by no means whine about their fortunes, nor do they sound like they’re enjoying completely to different touring indie rock bands. Jordan makes all of it relatable, as if touring have been no completely different than every other low-paying gig in late-capitalist America. And he is aware of that lovers and spouses usually take the brunt of any artist’s frustrations. Jordan is an formidable songwriter—and infrequently a messy one, as on “Self-destructor,” which lapses into condescension—however songs like “If It’s Gone” and particularly “Desert” are distinguished by their generosity towards their topics. Jordan apologizes reasonably than throws blame, and hopes it’ll make him a greater man. As he sings on “Vaughn,” “Not each single lover has gotta be a tragic music.”

Jordan was singing about these topics on Bummer 12 months, however these new songs are extra acute of their angst, extra vivid of their preparations, extra risky of their performances. As resourceful a songwriter as Jordan could also be—with an informal lyricism that may flip a plainspoken phrase right into a lighter-raising refrain—Good Seems to be have been by no means merely his backing band. Racing by means of “Self-destructor” and churning up drama in “Why Don’t You Imagine Me?,” they take the curves somewhat too quick, however the rhythm part’s taut krautrock beats maintain all tires on the pavement. And Ames at all times has a punchy riff on exhausting, or a trenchant guitar tone, or a blast of suggestions to bolster Jordan’s vocals or wryly undercut him. Self-referential but additionally self-critical, they play each music prefer it’s an argument for why they’re enjoying that music.