We're Not Talking

Goon Sax, The
Chapter
General | Sep 2019

Reviews

DJ Stace
Reviewed 2019-09-25
Album / Artist: We’re Not Talking / Goon Sax
Label: Chapter Music

Reviewed: 9/24/2019
DJ Stace

General Comments / Release Notes
Teens from Brisbane Australia, one the son of Go-Betweens founder Robert Forster, deliver brilliant chamber-pop songs of insecurity, hesitation, misunderstanding and other teen/adult troubles. Moments of melodic brilliance everywhere that echo the likes of David Gedge & Wedding Present, or Stephen Merrit & Magnetic Fields. Fantastic arrangements and production, deceptive in their simplicity. Are these kids really only 19? This is a brilliant album.

FCCs: None

RIYL: Wedding Present, Magnetic Fields, U.S. Girls, The Glands, Violent Femmes
Play: All, especially 1,2,3,7,11,12

Tracks:
1. **** Make Time 4 Love (02:09) - Mid to Uptempo acoustic guitar rocker. That Wedding Present sound, right from the starting gate. Nice strings over the top at the chorus. More cowbell.
2. *** Love Lost (03:04) - Midtempo lament to trying to be someone for someone else. More great strings/organ over the top and great talk/sing lyrical arrangement. Castanets are a cool add. More castanets.
3. ** She Knows 02:32 - Uptempo rocker reminds a bit of The Jam, Buzzcocks and that type of intensity.
4. Losing Myself 02:45 - Midtempo, great lyrics and Male/Female vocals. Deceptively simple and teen sounding without being trite.
5. Somewhere In Between 01:00 - Brief, muffled GBV-like piano and voice. pleasant.
6. ** Strange Light 03:22 - Slow and soft strumming acoustic guitar with female vocals remids a bit of Tindersticks with the bassline bobbling underneath.
7. ** Sleep EZ 03:02 - Midtempo GBV insistent guitar stylings. David Gedge style vocals really show through, here. Cool off-kilter guitar solo.
8. ** We Can’t Win 03:13 - Slow to Midtempo drum machine intro, with soft piano eventually leads to a soft Smiths-like strummer. Melancholy lyrics. Female and Male vocals on this one.
9. ** A Few Times Too Many 02:59 - Uptempo. Another Jam-like mod-punk tune with bass and drums really driving the arrangement. Have I mentioned the lyrics and delivery remind me of David Gedge? Play this one before or after something from Wedding Present’s Watusi album.
10. Now You Pretend 01:17 - Quiet piano and vocal piece. SPare and melancholy.
11. *** Get Out 02:18 - uptempo. More Cowbell. Another great Wedding Present song they never wrote or recorded.
12. ** Til The End 02:05 - Midtempo, soft strummer with great F/M vocal duet. Follow with Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile.

Recent airplay

Make Time 4 Love
THe LibraryJan 08, 2020
We Can't Win
KZSU Time TravelerDec 13, 2019
Make Time 4 Love
The LibraryDec 11, 2019
We Can't Win
KZSU Time TravelerDec 06, 2019

Charting

2019-10-07 — 2019-12-09
Week EndingAirplays
Dec 8 1
Dec 1 1
Nov 24 1
Nov 17 2
Nov 10 3
Nov 3 3
Oct 27 1
Oct 20 2

Track listing

1. Make Time 4 Love
2. Love Lost
3. She Knows
4. Losing Myself
5. Somewhere In Between
6. Stange Light
7. Sleep Ez
8. We Can't Win
9. A Few Times Too Many
10. Now You Pretend
11. Get Out
12. Till The End