Record Reviews

The Go

Whatcha Doin' (Sub Pop)

Sporting influences on your sleeve has always been one of the fastest routes to the land of diminishing returns. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the thinly veiled nostalgia that passes for new music solely because of its indie pedigree. The Go fondly and accurately recall sacred signifiers from Iggy & the Stooges to T. Rex, but the rigidity of their "authentic" approach makes the whole experience about as revelatory as a Disney attraction. Songs like "You Can Get High" and "Get You Off" are something akin to caricature in this context. Perhaps Whatcha Doin' is the work of a good live band that isn't quite sure what to do in the studio. The Go obviously know their way around Raw Power skronk and glitter-faced double entendres, but you never get a sense of what the music means to them on a gut level; their energies are crushed under the dictates of Rutles-style appropriation and a veneer of sucky-like-our-hero production. The proto-punk and glam fetish is wielded like a scepter of validation, but all it really does is prove the Go have a good record collection. (Friday, Mar 17, Emo's Jr., midnight)