Album Review

Gary Go – Gary Go

• 8th Jun 2009

Fatalism grappling in whatever format is going to lead to a similar conclusion and, this is that you should have hope and to follow your heart. Gary Go sets off on the journey to the destination of answer (an answer that is eleven tracks away!), in a bounding manner through ex-single, ‘Open Arms’. It’s this glitter guitar decorated pop that earned him a coveted support slot on the current Take That tour.

A Travis coat is used to cover the bristling soul search of ‘So So’ and, is never far away throughout this genuine, if a little forced foray. Pop songs have the obvious pitfalls attached to them. In order to maintain universal appeal, you have to transcend feelings of self-pity and becoming too self-absorbed. Gary tries to pre-empt this in ’Engines’:

“I don’t know why we’re fighting, when we’re on the same side?”

‘Brooklyn’, brings out the yearning Stephen Fretwell spirit in Gary and his coffee shop blues pours out. It sets off an aching mood for the mid-section that runs through the jaunty pop/rock cry out of ‘Refuse To Lose’, continuing into the echoing lament, ‘Honest’. An aching guitar strand is used to eek out painstaking feelings.

The power of positive thinking battles its demons throughout, as the cognitive process of Gary seems to succumb to the feelings in his heart, whilst this album builds to its predictable, but heart-warming conclusion. ‘Heart And Soul’, though sounding a little trite gives the “let the heart rule the head” message a little life and spirit, with steadily warming, mildly jarring percussion alongside expansive, cloud reaching string pushed backing. As well as the expressive yearning, yet saccharine coated vocals of the erstwhile narrator.

‘Black And White Days’, sees our Gaz breaking fully out of his self-reflective shell, diving into a saccharine coated ode to the power of a significant other, bringing a colourful touch to the fore.There’s enough on this self titled debut full length to come to the conclusion that music making, for Gary, is the equivalent to giving himself a pep talk.

Instrumentally speaking, the uplifting simplicity adopted for the most part on this album, helps the calmness of it, but the self-absorbing nature of this offering and given the fact that some of the tracks lean a little too much towards sentimentality. Means that this is largely an album in which you have to be in a certain, sombre, life-assessing mood in order to be able to fully appreciate its direction.