Emerging in 1985, Londoners The Godfathers promptly injected a dose of muscle into the decade’s sonic milieu. Essentially a hard-rocking update of R&B-infused pre-punk action with occasional ventures into pop territory, they released a string of albums, chalked up a handful of radio hits, and persevered until 2000. Reactivated since 2008, their new record is A Big Bad Beautiful Noise; while uneven, it benefits from focused energy and intermittently sturdy writing. It’s out now on CD and digital through Metropolis Records, with the 180gm vinyl arriving on March 24.
The Godfathers were formed by Peter Coyne and his bassist brother Chris after the breakup of The Sid Presley Experience, a mid-’80s act with a short but eventful lifespan; they managed to kick out a pair of singles, visit a few radio stations including a session for John Peel, perform the A-side of their first single “Hup Two Three Four” on TV program The Tube, and even toured with Billy Bragg.
The Coyne brothers wasted no time in building upon the momentum of their defunct unit, getting at it so quickly that many have chalked up The Godfathers’ arrival as simply that of a name change. That’s not true, as Presleyite (and future conspirator) Del Bartle ended up in the Unholy Trinity for a subsequent spell, but the idea is supported by cover versions of the Plastic Ono Band’s “Cold Turkey” titling Sid Presley’s second EP and adorning The Godfathers’ ’87 full-length Hit by Hit.
Comprised of their first three singles and a smattering of new tracks, Hit by Hit isn’t a mindblower but it does document promise, and it was the final release on their Corporate Image label before Epic came a calling. In something of a reversal of norms, ’88’s Birth, School. Work, Death and the following year’s More Songs About Love and Hate, saw the involvement of a major company improving upon the band’s independent beginnings.
While undeniably a distillation of the abovementioned styles, The Godfathers weren’t an exercise in retro, instead infusing their pre-punk influences (think Dr. Feelgood, Kilburn and the High Roads, Ducks Deluxe, Eddie and the Hot Rods etc.) with working-class punk surliness and pop angles, topping it all off with complementary Modish (but not dandy-like) fashion sense. All familiar stuff in the UK, their greatest success was found on the Modern Rock chart in the United States.
By extension, a significant percentage of The Godfathers’ rep is as a singles band, but at least for their Epic stretch, which culminated with ’91’s Unreal World, this writer remembers the albums as being solid. Maybe not solid enough to keep physical copies around the house, though newfangled streaming does corroborate the memory.
Those LPs apparently didn’t sell like hotcakes, and after Epic cut ties the group revived Corporate Image for a live album, put out two studio discs on the German Intercord imprint, and soldiered on to the end of the ‘90s. It was the original lineup that reformed in 2008, but by the next year personnel changes were taking place. A CD/ DVD documenting a show at the 100 Club ensued, and then came 2013 studio effort Jukebox Fury.
Chris Coyne departed the scene last year, leaving brother Peter as the final original member. It’s a circumstance that spells trouble, as rock history is burdened with bands trudging through the motions with one or even no founders in the mix. As either a reviewer or simply an intrigued party it’s advisable to keep a comfortable distance from earlier highpoints before diving in.
However, Coyne’s vocal gruffness immediately unifies A Big Bad Beautiful Noise with the days of old as the opening title track works up a strong head of steam; it’s a speedy mover ripe with guitar grease (including a wave of effects-pedal action mid-way through) and offset with bass thickness and punchy drums.
Ultimately, it’s no big deal, but The Godfathers have never been a stylistic bombshell anyway, their best moments deriving from a proper blend of ingredients and inspiration. In this regard, the pop-rocking “Till My Heart Stops Beating” betters its predecessor by retaining the tempo and instilling it with just the right ratio of the anthemic. From there “You Don’t Love Me” settles into a power-poppy neighborhood, combining strings both chiming and chunky, some backing vox and a liberal shot of hard rock bombast.
Lyrically, the band remains blunt but not overbearing, even during the working-class rumination “Poor Boy’s Son,” a middling song that’s biggest issue is a blues-rockabilly foundation delivered in a manner seemingly intended to evoke factory machinery. An idea that’s better on paper than in execution, it’s a concept maybe a tad ambitious for this combo.
“One Good Reason” steadies the disc’s flow, its dip into emotionally reflective waters thankfully avoiding the maudlin alcohol-aided agonies that undermine too many hard-living barstool bards. No, Coyne is clearheaded enough to take a topical turn in “Miss America,” though it produces another somewhat average effort that mainly underscores how effective their fellow Brits The Mekons have been when tackling similar themes.
A Big Bad Beautiful Noise is at its best when flaunting directness and heft, with “Defibrillator” possessing both qualities plus an undercurrent of strangeness to boot. But then the likeable melodic-rock gear-shift of “She’s Mine” proves an exception to this observation, oozing hints of Lee Hazlewood, later Velvets, and early Tom Petty, It’s an unusual weave, especially for this outfit. The use of single note piano and R&B stomp in “Feedbacking” nods to those pre-punk/ pub-rock roots, with the spaced-out section paying homage to ’60s forerunners.
Normally, odes to getting stoned as fuck are mellower than the guitar raucousness of “Let’s Get Higher,” and for that matter are frequently subtler lyrically, but Coyne lets his weed flag unashamedly fly. That he’s so upfront about it is sorta goofy, but it also adds some appeal to the number. From there, “You and Me Against the World” conjures grand emotional sweep one last time and couples it with a soaring guitar solo and non-trite ‘80s art-pop structure.
The unevenness of A Big Bad Beautiful Noise is reflected in its rating, but the best moments far exceed the average. Sometimes modest successes line up nicely with the realities of contemporary life, and so it is with this Peter Coyne-led incarnation of The Godfathers.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
B
