The Avenging Disco Godfathers Of Soul

The Ultimate in Authenticity and Musical Usefullness (2003)

Jim

When I get CDs in the mail it's never a surprise for me to find something from a band I've never heard of. Usually some of these bands are good, but most are average at best. However, for some reason this release really caught my attention. Maybe it was the band's name, The Avenging Disco Godfathers of Soul (from now on I'll refer to them as the Godfathers); in fact, it definitely was the band's name. I had a feeling that this album was going to be quite interesting; I just didn't know how impressive it would turn out to be.

Comparisons could be made to The Locust, An Albatross, Fantomas, or maybe even Since by Man. But it wouldn't be fair to this trio to just pin them down by saying "they sound like this band." There's so much going on in these tracks that it might leave your overwhelmed, but surprisingly everything flows together really well and even the strangest tempo/style changes seem to make sense. Just how much is going on here? In a little over a minute and a half into the CD the band goes from horror movie theme music, to melodic rock, to hardcore, to grind, to game show music. The Godfathers utilize pretty much anything they can get their grubby little hands on. Aside from the usual instruments, you'll hear synthesizers, xylophones (!), and some percussion instruments that some people, me included don't know by name. Throughout the album there are odd synth passages along with bits of hardcore, jazz, metal, grind, and noise. But even with their chaos and experimentation these guys aren't afraid to take a good riff and run with it. That means that instead of being overly confusing this album is just a good listen.

I can't say enough about just how good this album is. It's not the easiest thing describe, but you'll be impressed once you hear it. If you like any of the aforementioned bands or if you're just interested in hearing something fresh and new, then this just might be essential for you. You can check out their mp3.com site and download some older songs plus one from this album. There isn't much left to say except "buy this!"