With riffs as big as their collective beards, UK band Godsized deliver the goods on their new EP ‘The Phoney Tough & The Crazy Brave’; a three track, 15 minute foray that is laden with whale sized, cancel that, Godsized hooks, melody, passion and power.
Kicking off with the title track, Godsized set the mark with their low slung southern groove feel. After a powerhouse drumming intro leading into a stirling riff with rumbly bass underneath, the excellent vocals of Glen Korner soar into play. Whilst you may anticipate a huge generic roar what you get is something all together more unique. Combining this with their musicianship and evident song writing skills what you have is a band with a real identity of their own. ‘So I’m Told’ continues where the title track left off, hooks – yes, riffs – yes, solo – yes, you can put ticks in all the boxes, it delivers the goods.
So, so far so good. As the wise words of Meatloaf once said ‘2 out of 3 ain’t bad’. That’s right, two out of the three are indeed not bad, in fact I’d go so far as to say they’re very good but here comes track 3. ‘Bleed On The Inside’. Now this is much more like it. Whilst its predecessors were worthy contenders this is heavyweight knockout material. With an opening riff that sounds like a variation on ‘Redneck’ by LoG (that’s no bad thing) the track rattles along throwing anvil heavy riffs, boulder shaped drums and concrete cracking bass lines out of its back doors as it weaves its way through your ear canal. See, look how excited I’ve become by it? And we haven’t even reached 2 minute 38 yet. Why’s that Chris? Glad you asked. At 2.38mins, Godsized drop the riff bomb and all sorts of shit kicks off. Firstly, the tempo racks up a few notches and before you know it you’re being slapped silly by a rip snorter of a solo, slight pause for breath, bang! Take that, here comes another solo followed by a bit a breakdown before the chorus pops up and then a slab heavy group effort on the final riff…. And breathe. The whole track is far more ambitious in terms of structure, dynamics and with the upped tempo sounds more vital.
All in all, ‘The Phoney Tough & The Crazy Brave’ is a strong release, it has two great tracks and a truly outstanding one. I’m crossing fingers that in the future Godsized will be forging forward into the wake that ‘Bleed On The Inside’ has left and fulfilling the potential that this promises.
