Artist: Go Daijo
Release: Boss Truck
There's something inherently youthful and exuberant about Seattle’s Go Daijo. Perhaps it’s their Cap’n Jazz-meets-Japandroids brand of math-punk. Or, maybe it's how they literally laugh their way through "Power Go," the first of two songs on their debut EP, Boss Truck. Either way, it sounds like a damn good time: drums crash chaotically into guitars, but the guitars hold their own, with spazzed-out melodies kept in line with consistently tight hooks.
Their second song, “Angel Hair” starts off on a slow, droning blues progression, before turning up the reverb and building into an upbeat post-punk number that maybe Television would have written back in the day. Singer / drummer Cameron LaFlam’s swaggering vibrato shines on this particular track, and basically, 5:15 onwards is divine.
Because of the ADHD nature of Go Daijo, what you really hear are 6, maybe 8, very short songs spanning a couple genres here, a couple decades there. Understandably, this seeming lack of coherency may be a turn off to some listeners. But on closer examination, Boss Truck is three dudes with a lot of ideas on the table, playing exactly what they want, when they want, how they want. And frankly, it's a very cool thing.
Shout out to Ryan Sadler for making cover art both beautiful and upsetting. Follow Go Daijo on Facebook [here], and buy their music on Bandcamp [here].