El Goodo Come Goodo
“El Goodo consist of a Vox Continental, a Vox AC30, a Fender Twin, a 60’s Ludwig psychedelic drum-kit, a 1960’s Hofner bass, and 5 lifetimes worth of listening...”
My ignorance allows me to ponder upon what these fascinating sounding instruments actually resemble but one thing I can tell you is that they make an altogether crepuscular, mysterious and yet cordial sound when played together.
Hailing from the Neath village of Resolven (famous, for the nearby Rheola indoor market - yum!) the boys of El Goodo (whose name is taken from Big Star’s The Ballad Of) have been a going concern for all of twelve years, living beneath the radar until very recently.
This is, according to lead singer Pixy, because of the band’s ability to spend an awful long time in the studio and very little time playing live - four gigs in a year is supposedly “record breaking” for the lads. To say they’re laid back about their music seems to be an understatement.
This being their second album, Coyote boasts an array of tunes you would expect to hear on a sixties compilation and the band themselves agree that they have got “more into the sixties” as they “get closer to sixty”. Well put, I’d say.
Indeed, the album is filled to the brim with delicious Byrds-like harmonies and Yardbirds-esque rifts and in parts I am reminded of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band (Try saying that with a sixties mini skirt on - go on lads, I know you want to).
The trouble with 60’s renaissance bands is of course the authenticity, but El Goodo aren’t lacking in any of that golden stuff. They are as odd a bunch as you’d ever wish to meet; this album was released in America last year, before even a sniff of it in their homeland. Mental, eh?
A sixties revival seems to be on the cards my friends but you’ll have to wait ‘til March 1st to get your paws on this one. However, if you can’t wait that long, the jolly single I Saw Her Today is out on Monday 25th Jan.
They, like our friends Erland & The Carnival, have played live on Radcliffe and Maconie very recently and you can catch that session here.
A trip back to the sixties is always something to look forward to; so go forth good people of Cardiff and get on their MySpace. Coyote will quite probably have you howling for more. See what I did there? No? Never mind, it’s just my ‘acute’ sense of humour. Just get the album peeps.
