“The voyage of all our lungs.”
In 2018 and 2019, two records were released by Cork-based band God Alone. By the second, the band was turning some heads with their fusion of math, post, and noise rock. They brimmed with an uncommonly youthful energy, sparingly using vocals, telling their stories through either frenetic drums and beefy riffs. After several seasons of forced inactivity, ETC now plays out their next chapter, a record that continues to demonstrate their potential.
Firstly, a note on the present weird rock landscape of the British Isles. We live in exciting times, with bands like Black Country, New Road, Black Midi, Squid, and shame pushing sonic boundaries (the “Windmill” scene, if you like). Although Ireland is across one soft-border from this sphere, God Alone should certainly be on the radar of this scene’s followers. It’s important to also note that these bands are not really connected by their genre – none of them actually sound like God Alone, let alone one another. They’re all just young rock bands with down-to-earth production and a flair for chaos. It’s been a shame that God Alone’s excellent records remain relatively undiscovered whilst interest in similarly idiosyncratic bands has flourished.
Title track “ETC” is the lead single and strongest track, a gradually-building monster that showcases God Alone’s constant “mathy” riffwork. This is not “math” in the sense that they mess with odd time signatures – you’ll be able to tap your foot to this consistently. In fact, the lack of alternative time signatures is a refreshing aspect of their sound (perhaps excluding “15BM1989”, though I did try not to count like a nerd). The “mathy” sound instead comes from the surgical precision of their unexpected and quirky melodies. It’s the epitome of that coveted angular sound, conferring an essentially plucky attitude and infectious sense of humour. How seriously can you really take a band whose hardest moments sound like Cult of Luna played with tweezers? ETC also features occasionally electronic dance moments that are brief, but very fun, such as on “Peony”, or the GameBoy outro of “Tsk Tsk Tsk”.
ETC has a significant flaw: a lack of cohesion and purpose, especially in the longer tracks. Even though God Alone tend to settle on one groove and develop it, it’s still like they spin a wheel to decide where to go after each section. “Kung Fu Treachery” and “15BM1989” are key offenders, switching lanes without really resolving the previous ideas, or recognisably reprising the song’s earlier sections. They go quiet, loud, quiet, loud, each time with an almost fresh idea that works in isolation but leaves you scratching your head as to what the greater plan was. Other tracks handle this better, like “Peony”, where each melody is more clearly the sibling of its neighbours, and “Kung Fu Treachery” also ends on a strong note after a particularly challenging middle. However, the volume changes still feel dictated by the track’s runtime, not the actual song’s momentum. These un-subtleties are clearly the band’s intent, a genre convention that they neither subvert nor conquer.
The production is quite good, with each part of the band sounding distinct and true to being a five piece band. Quiet moments embrace the full dynamic range, and the heavy bits go hard in context, but perhaps could have gone a bit harder. The record sounds less heavy than the self-titled 2019 EP, mostly because the guitars to sound less expansive and “metal“. The bass instead carries the truly crushing tones, but fans of the first records will still feel the difference. The vocals also feel a bit too distant and ineffectual, whether harsh, gang vocal style, occasionally vocoded (or in French).
Although ETC has a few flaws, it’s still a very endearing album. It attempts to thread the needle by combining the goofy and the guttural. Whilst a few riffs might be marmite and the song structures are puzzling, much of the time, the band pulls it off, and particularly I’d love to see them do so in a live setting.
6.5/10
ETC is out this Friday, October 21st, via Prosthetic Records and can be pre-ordered here.