GOODNIGHT LOVING’s mix of psychedelia, garage and fast paced country lends them (in the DMD camp anyways) to the inevitable early CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN comparisons. Some of this sounds like it could have been recorded in the same studio as Camper’s “II & III” (the low/mid-fi production values are strikingly similar). It was recorded in a cabin in what appears to be analog gear in the picture. The same Farfisa keyboard that CVB employed (when Jonathan Segel was not playing violin) is here. The main difference here is that Goodnight Loving seem to be more centered sonically around the acoustic guitar and that the country part of their sound is more customary. The electric guitars twang with liberal amounts of reverb. There is some harmonica here and there. Occasionally I hear what sounds like a banjo, which is hardly surprising.

It’s hard to imagine that these guys just cobbled this together overnight. It appears that more care was put into the musical end of this than most “alterna” country/rock that I’ve been exposed to. From CMJ editor Kenny Herzog; “And just to be clear, that’s American rock in THE FEELIES/UNCLE TUPELO sense of the word, where blue collar backgrounds collide with subcultural sensibilities for some potent rock ‘n’ roll.” This is real roots music. Done right and sounding great. The songs are short. There is thirteen tracks here in slightly over a half hour. It’s not hard to play this twice in a row. It leaves them wanting more for sure.

- Herring

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/thegoodnightloving

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