Founded after Christmas 2017 by Chris Kearney in his grandmother’s Philadelphia dance studio, Goings comprises Kearney (drums, vocals); Jack Meidel (guitars); and Aiden (keys, vocals) and Keith (bass guitar, vocals) Rogers, with Kyle Bosler on guitars and vocals for the first two debut outings.
With influences listed as Motion City Sound Track, Into It.Over It, Standards, Hikes, and Dryjacket, Goings debuted in February 2019 with “Mental Math”, an electronic Beach Boys-styled track in alternating 74 / 44 or even 114) with that 2010s summer vibe from late in the winter of 2019. Featuring a Red Symons-styled guitar-riff toward the end, this introductory theme was suggestive of mental health and not grade-school arithmetic, although some may suggest that issues with one could lead to problems with the other.
As the single from their eponymous debut EP the following month, Math set the foundation for the summer vibe they seemed to be emulating from that 1960s collective. All Good opened the EP in a straight 44 with tingly vibraphone/Fender Rhodes-styled keys under slightly phased/effected vocals. Really, really catchy and bright. Hoop Earrings, which we all remember from the 00s and still see in those who refuse to acknowledge the third decade of the third millennium, confirmed that bright summery sound with an oh-so-slightly out-of-tune tremolo/pitch-shifted guitar effect. Hopefully a sign of things ahead for these guys and/or a springboard from which to launch their sonic careers.
Phone Numbers is the opening gambit and pre-album single along the lines of the earlier releases, but W Blue-Sky Line blasts into your lobes with a hotchpotch time-signature intro to nothing sonically that we have heard from them before this point. The press suggests that this was due to a technical glitch; much the same as the intro to The Breeders’ famous Cannonball intro. This is They Might Be Giants / United Shapes meets Green Day.
Trying/Dying dives back into clean vocals, guitars, keys, and bass with an 80s/90s vibe that could perform very well as the next single; Haircut 1000 continues the 80s tribute in title at least, reminding me of the semi-hit of 1982 “Love Plus One” from Haircut 100; but that’s where the similarity ends, as the established style for the record continues from Trying albeit a little slower and more reliant on the bottom-end.
It’s for You and Voicemail carry on the communication theme: You jumps from an unexpected keys/synth intro to a rockier piece with the farfisa weaving in and out and a U2/The Edge guitar tilt. Another single? Voicemail is the token 39” piano ballad of the collection and break from the hi-energy of the record.
The final act comprises three more titles lower-energy tracks to let you know that the end of the record is coming: Nothing Without You eases back into the flow with more stripped-back straight-ahead with only the hint of a Tom Schulz-styled Hammond-organ combined with some early-1980s keys effects; continued with Elevator, which actually builds to a rock-‘n’-roll ending, finally Algorithm. Subtitled Aiden’s Odyssey, the press suggests that this 5’11” opus is a reminder that we’re at the mercy of numbers; whether it be one’s own Mental Math or the 0s and 1s that rule the digital age in which we’re all living. The anvil-beating rhythm reminds me of Lang’s Metropolis and retains the pace we’ve experienced since Voicemail, although there are still moments of stadium-rock Pink Floydesque chord-progressions with the heartbeat kick drum during the middle-8.
Dare I say, this will be a classic album, with Algorithm, It’s For You, and Trying/Dying suggested selling points to the single market. Kyle, like all other members who depart early in a band’s career, will probably be kicking himself. Thoroughly enjoyable, I would happily add this to my personal playlist to show my 10 year old son what good music is; that it still exists today as it did during my own formative years. Kudos, Goings!