The Godfathers were/are one of the most underrated indie rock bands of the 80s, a genre-defying cadre of well-dressed guitar mafiosos who straddled deftly the sweaty working-class intensity of pub rock and Northern soul with the snarl and spit of 70s punk. You could dance to ‘em, you could fight to ‘em, burn down a trailer park, whatever. The band sunk into obscurity in the 00’s, but a modified and energised line-up – still led by lead howler Peter Coyne – re-emerged in the past decade.
Big Bad Beautiful Noise is their first album in four or so years, and it’s their best and most consistent since 1988’s seminal Birth School Work Death. Lead-off single You Don’t Love Me is fun and frothy, but the real meat is on piano-bashing rave-ups like Poor Boy’s Son and downright evil rockers like Let’s Get Higher. The band still hop madly from foot to foot – Stiff Records one minute, Creation the next – but they have solidified over the years into a definably hard rock’n’roll band, and fans of classic-era crunchers like I’m Lost And Then I’m Found or She Gives Me Love will find plenty to like here.
