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THE GOON SAX

The Goon Sax

Mirror II

    Since forming in high school, Brisbane band The Goon Sax—the trio of Riley Jones, Louis Forster, and James Harrison, best friends who take turns writing, singing, and playing each instrument— have been celebrated for their unpretentious, kinetic homemade pop. Mirror ll, The Goon Sax’s first album for Matador, is something else entirely: a new beginning, a multi-dimensional eclectic journey of musical craftsmanship that moves from disco to folk to no wave skronk with staggering cohesion. Gone are the first-person insecurities of their school days—they’ve been made expansive, more universal, more weird.

    Mirror II is intense, the sum of everything that has always made The Goon Sax great: robust sprech- gesang, raw lyrical candor, ascending guitar pop structures that would make the most storied jangle bands blush, elevated into their newfound narra- tive verisimilitude and expanded sonic xperiment- tations. Each member’s idiosyncratic style comes across on record: Riley’s bubblegum noise is more present than ever before, Louis’ moody, super- natural avant-pop, and James’ psychedelic folk.

    STAFF COMMENTS

    Barry says: We love a bit of Goon Sax in the shop, and this really is the quintessential document from this talented band. Rapid changes in timbre or pace do nothing to dull the pure groove on display here, brilliantly toeing the line between high energy post-punk and jangling, swooning indie rock.

    TRACK LISTING

    In The Stone
    Psychic
    Tag
    Temples
    The Chance
    Bathwater
    Desire
    Carpetry
    Til Dawn
    Caterpillars

    The Goon Sax

    We're Not Talking

      The Goon Sax are James Harrison, Louis Forster and Riley Jones from Brisbane, Australia. Still in high school when they made their first album Up To Anything in 2016, their brand of awkwardly transcendent teenage guitar pop took earned them wide-spread critical acclaim.

      For album number two, they flew to Melbourne to record with James Cecil and Cameron Bird, respectively former/current members of Architecture In Helsinki, and 'We're Not Talking' shows how much can change between the ages of 17 and 19. It's a record that takes the enthusiasms of youth and twists them into darker, more sophisticated shapes. Relationships are now laced with hesitation, remorse, misunderstanding and ultimately compassion.

      Drummer Riley Jones really comes to the fore here, joining Louis and James in singing lead and writing songs for the first time, making the band the musical equivalent of an equilateral triangle (the strongest shape in physics).

      Delivering brilliantly human and brutally honest vignettes of adolescent angst, The Goon Sax brim with personality, charm and heart-wrenching honesty. 'We’re Not Talking' is a record made by restless artists, defying expectations as if hardly noticing, and its complexity makes 'We're Not Talking' even more of a marvel.




      STAFF COMMENTS

      Barry says: 'Up To Anything' was a revelation when it came in, brilliantly clever and melodic, but gritty and poetic at the same time. 'Were Not Talking' continues that legacy but with a bit more of a world-wise tilt, swapping out some of the major key melodies and psychedelic progressions for more solemn interludes, focused more on the nuances of songmanship than the youthful power of the debut. A brilliant progression from this Australian trio, and yet another reason why we'll continue to love The Goon Sax.

      TRACK LISTING

      1. Make Time 4 Love
      2. Love Lost
      3. She Knows
      4. Losing Myself
      5. Somewhere In Between
      6. Strange Light
      7. Sleep EZ
      8. We Can't Win
      9. A Few Times Too Many
      10. Now You Pretend
      11. Get Out
      12. Til The End


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