Love/Lost – Good Racket Album Review + Release Show Video
Repost – originally published October 18th, 2019
I met these guys at a local show a few summers ago, and I was blown away by their talent. I remember how tight their setlist was, including fun, reimagined covers as well as well-written, high-energy original songs, and I just knew they were going to be special. This album is still on my playlists, they did such a great job with it, and I got to see them play a few times before they unfortunately disbanded and formed different projects. Enjoy this review and little video trailer of their concert!
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FOR FANS OF: Twenty One Pilots, The White Stripes, half-alive
The iconic lyric “and it was all yellow” originally belongs to Coldplay, but Detroit pop rock band Good Racket is coming for their color scheme in a big way.
The venue they call home is named “The Yellow Room,” on the second floor of a downtown Wyandotte, Michigan coffee shop. Their merch and outfit choices are all yellow. And their sounds from their new LP, Love/Lost, are just as bright, bold, and sunny.
(left to right) Lauren Lanzini, Morghanne Wood Garnica, Johnny McCormick, and Alec Garnica.
https://open.spotify.com/album/6Irfd5nn82AQF61ifXSpiY?si=5bOU9D4ASSO6vnNqUmB3Sw
The record opens with an interlude-style intro, simply It Gets Better. Gang vocals and a driving snare builds, then explodes into Thirteen, a rollicking, pop-punk influenced tune with plenty of opportunities for air drumming.
The romantic track Honey is the black sheep of the album, with a slower beat reminiscent of bedroom pop, a female-sung hook, and rap verses. However, even with its unique composition, it still manages to still sound like Good Racket, and is an interesting detour within the flow of the album. Morghanne Garnica provides the pop vocals, and lead singer Johnny McCormick raps verses in the style of Tyler Joseph or Jon Bellion.
Another interlude, this time a comical voicemail stuttering a confession of feelings to a crush, brings us into Won’t Take No, a standout, straight-up pop-punk track that was made to be sung along to at a live show. A fast-paced tempo (as well as a cut to half-time in the bridge) propels McCormick’s strong and appropriately yell-y vocals.
The band takes it down a notch for the mid-album ballad, Toledo. This track showcases more vulnerable lyrics and a blues flavored melody, guitar tone, and organ. The melancholy tone continues into Last Chance, a track led completely by Garnica on vocals. This is an emotional spot on the record, and comes across as very genuine. Stagnant finishes the album by looking onward and upward, a track that builds up to an anthemic and hopeful conclusion.
From the color of Honey, to the carefree, sunny summer rock in Won’t Take No, and the brilliant, wide open sky mentioned in Stagnant, Good Racket’s world truly is all yellow.
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Love/Lost proves that Good Racket have the know-how to make some incredibly catchy rock songs, and a visit to The Yellow Room proves that they also know how to put on a great show. Watch this video I put together highlighting their album release concert!