Retro in one track but cutting and full of a modern edge at the same time in the next, there’s no understating the importance of the riffs in the new album Anything Could Happen by Go Time!. In songs like “Burden of Proof” and “Head Space,” they express an honesty that words simply cannot get across on their own, and in situations presented by the likes of “Before it Goes Dark,” “Meaning Behind It” and “Long Term Effect,” they contextualize lyrical content to make even the most removed of narratives sound tangible and relevant to the listener. A lot of love and time went into making the all-new album from Go Time! just about as perfect as it can get, and judging from the ambitiousness of its design, it isn’t a farewell to the spotlight by any means at all.
There’s a lot more to this record than instrumental virtuosities created by the string parts alone. In the case of songs like “Rip Current,” “The Hard Way Out,” and “Necessary Mistakes,” which feature some of the more intriguing tempo experiments in all of the record, the vocal harmonies embody more spirit than the lyrics they convey ever could, and when they come pouring out of the speakers there’s no stopping the charm they fill the air around us with. Every track has several working parts synchronized together to give us a really rich listening experience, but rarely is there an instance when any arrangement in Anything Could Happen sounds particularly over the top or even elaborate to the extent of being unnecessarily complex.
You don’t have to be a professional critic to hear the personal investment Go Time! has in “Sensibility Withdrew,” “Under the Radar,” “Head Space,” and “Seizer Plan,” as the sort of passion these songs contain is a type that simply cannot be faked or practiced into existence. Artificiality has no role in this record, and although some would make the argument that Go Time!’s sound would probably benefit from admitting some of the mainstream components common in the styles of their contemporaries, I don’t fault them for keeping things stripped down for this LP. They’ve got a very distinct technique when it comes to constructing new music, and while it isn’t what some of the competition would do, that’s precisely why I think they’re standing out in the way they do here.
If you haven’t already heard the music of Go Time! before now, I would recommend hearing what they have to say in the new album Anything Could Happen, as it’s some of their most comprehensively endearing content to see widespread release thus far. There’s still some room for this group to grow into the sound they’ve established for themselves thus far, but at this time I would have to say they’re looking like one of the more focused bands emerging from their scene at the moment. They’ve built quite up quite a rep on the left side of the dial, and when listening to their new LP, it’s easy to understand what all of the fuss has been about.
Chadwick Easton