Godplow

Soft Formal Static (Grass)
by Austin Nash

Minneapolis, MN is cold in winter and hot in summer. The music scene, however, remains hot year round. Minneapolis reigns as one of the most consistently talented and volumetric music scenes in the country. This is now the new home of Godplow, which followed up its debut album, Red Giant Judas, with its sophomore release, Soft Formal Static.

Godplow, originally from Alabama, have spent a majority of the last four years on the road touring in support of their first album with acts such as Hum, Sebadoh, and Rodan. The tone of the new album is somewhat dark and is a product of writing during a depression era (not the 30’s, their own depression). Quotes guitarist/vocalist Hunter Jonakin, “I guess we just write better when depression sets in.” Of course this is somewhat akin to a sports newscaster asking the opinion of an athlete. Pain like fire, pain like death, pain like pain.

Much of the new album is strangely reminiscent of a long-gone Grass band by the name of Twitch. They are similar in their introspectively, simplicity of structure, and metronomic discords that drive the songs. The melodies are addictive, flashy guitar solos are absent and replaced by phase-shifting stretchy chords that provide for an overall thick and powerfully atmospheric sound.