There has always seemed to be an extremely long line between the small, devoted fan base and the wide, mainstream audience. Over the years, too many fantastic acts have tried to make the giant leap only to become jaded with the major label scene of the modern music industry. And who could blame them? How could an independent band, so used to creative freedom, be happy under the constant watch of businessmen who only care about whether they have the appeal to “catch on” with American radio? With the current state of the music industry, it seems impossible for any band to close the distance between radio appeal and genuine music.Tallahassee natives Go Radio fully understand this concept with their sophomore full length album Close the Distance, which hit stores this past Tuesday. They’ve leveled the playing field. They’ve created an album that not only deserves recognition for being well-crafted and heartfelt but also has the capacity to garner it.
This is evident from the album’s outset. The opener “I Won’t Lie” absolutely bleeds passion, but that’s to be expected based on the band’s track record. Although, something is different: the song is gigantic. The track boasts a huge pop-rock hook built with a steady piano foundation and an incredible energy that is so absent from modern radio.
While the lyrics are simple (“I won’t lie/I’ve waited a million hours just to say that/I will die/if you leave me”), they are by no means contrived or boring. They give the listener a good idea of the direction where the rest of the album is going.
That’s not to say that front man Jason Lancaster’s lyrics have suffered. In fact, he continues to improve his songwriting prowess with a more straightforward but still detailed style, focusing on the idea that hope is alive even in the darkest of places. Impressive and affecting lines still dominate Go Radio’s songs, especially in the title track (“I found hope/in the back of a closet/written by a child’s hand /on pieces of parchment/yellowed and old”) and the devastating closer “Hear Me Out” (“the pictures on the wall, my dear/the holy ghost himself can’t make appear”). The latter song also features a career-defining vocal performance by Lancaster, who continues to prove that he is on a completely different level than most of his contemporaries.
While Go Radio’s debut album Lucky Street was one of the best records of last year, in my opinion, it was an uneven mixture of different styles, leaving the listener to question whether the young band (founded in 2007 after Lancaster left Mayday Parade) had a firm grasp of their own identity. Close the Distance, on the other hand, has more of a focus which mainly stays on the mid tempo pop-rock route. While this may sound bland in theory, the band is definitely good at keeping the listener’s attention, infusing pop-punk and alternative rock influences into their songs while still keeping the album together as one cohesive piece of art.
With almost every song on Close the Distance, I can pick out an artist prominent on the radio today who should rightfully be replaced by Go Radio. At the same time, the band sacrifices not an ounce of skill or genuineness that generated their devoted fan base in the first place, and none of the songs sound over-produced.
Take, for example, the sparse, piano-laden ballad “What If You Don’t,” which may give Adele a run for her money in terms of both vocal power and emotional delivery by Lancaster. The track, which features guest violinist Sean Mackin (of Yellowcard), showcases Go Radio doing what they do best, pleasing fans of past songs such as “Why I’m Home” and “Goodnight Moon.”
At the same time, the band matches the appeal and skill of radio newcomers Fun. (who released one of the year’s best-selling albums, Some Nights, in February) with the scathing “Go To Hell,” which combines the band’s natural pop-punk talents with an electronic backbone keeping the time and a bright horn section bringing the song to life.
“Go To Hell” is possibly the catchiest song the band has ever produced. The single may have the capacity to match the success of surprise phenomenon “We Are Young.” This is balanced by album highlights “Collide” and “Thing’s I Don’t See” which prove that the band can still write a fantastic but straightforward pop-punk song with their eyes closed.
With Close the Distance, Go Radio has carefully constructed a bridge between the genuineness of the independent music scene and mainstream radio appeal that would, in a fair world, be strong enough for the band to cross. From this point, however, all we can do is hope that Go Radio gets the recognition that they deserve and proves that radio-ready does not automatically mean contrived. For Go Radio, it means the best album of their career thus far.
Critic’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Jordan Walsh can be reached at jordan.walsh@spartans.ut.edu.