Godfathers (label)
21 January 2019 (released)
09 February 2019
The impact of seeing The Godfathers live cannot be understated.
They tear out of the blocks at a 100 miles per hour and assault the audience with sheer confidence, aggression and power.
Think of all the qualities that made punk so essential – the adrenaline fuelled fury, political nous and dynamism – and it is all here. However, unlike a lot of the punk bands, The Godfathers can actually play and put a decent song together. Their sound harks to Mod-period Jam as well and there are some similarities to The Clash and even Hawkwind but there is no-one else around playing this quality of dynamic rock.
Steve Crittal & Alex McBain’s guitars are a buzzsaw of riffs underpinned by Tim James furious drumming and Darren Birch’s throbbing bass but the real focus is on Peter Coyne’s cockney vocals – harsh and gravelled but clear and aimed right at every member of the audience.
This is a proper live album – capturing all the best things about seeing the band live and putting you, the listener, front and centre of a bravura performance.
They run through a set of tracks that virtually define the band – ‘This Is War’. ‘A Big Bad Beautiful Noise’ ‘Walking Talking Johnny Cash Blues’, ‘Defibrillator’ before eventually closing on the classic ‘Birth School Work Death’.
I was lucky enough to see them play this set at Islington two years back and the sight of a packed crowd pogoing and shimmying for all they were worth lives long in the memory – this live album captures that feeling perfectly.
