Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
It is fair to suggest that the word normality should be stricken from the vocabulary of every living person till the end of time, for nothing truly is normal, the practise of our existence is such that time around us evolves, that it contains pressures, burdens, responsibilities, stressful situations, and strains, all of which are forced upon us, and which must consider with great compassion the effect it has on others as well as ourselves. Nothing about human activity on Earth is normal, and during a period of time in which the spirit is tested on an unimaginable scale, to seek normality is to suggest that we question the magnitude of time itself and how we spend it.
How we spend time, a question that perhaps has never had a greater depth of meaning for three or four generations, but one we must address and as Goodnight, Texas show with the delicate vibes and strong demanding voices, to be able to operate despite living in different time zones and inhabiting a central position in which to continue their art, so we should arguably, needfully, continue to do all we can to pose the question, of How Long Will It Take Them to see that humanity needs to be focused on art and endeavour than on tearing each other apart for land, greed, and destruction.
Goodnight, Texas may sound as if it has been placed down as if by some mythical mapmaker, but it exists, and it is thankfully so, for it acts as the go to place for the two frontmen of the band to meet up and set the groove for their writing and performances to come; a place in time and in space where Avi Vinocur and Patrick Dyer Wolf bring a kind of magic to the mythic, and answer keenly the questions on their own mind, where they interrogate the sound and find it willing, compelling, and without hesitancy to reply.
From the opening stance of Neighborhoods, Hypothermic and Gotta Get Goin’ and beyond with songs such as Borrowed Time, Jane, Come Down From Your Room, Sarcophagus, and the brutal question in the undertow of How Long, Goodnight, Texas produce an album that blends truth with hope, and finds the acerbic, dry wit that is critical in terms of great material to be the staff of existence, a place where Goodnight is followed beautifully by the notion of ‘and sleep well’.
How Long Will It Take Them is proof that distance is no barrier to the producing of brilliance, that it is an ally of Time if produced with deep and personal foundations. Goodnight, Texas is a band of integrity, and it is revealed with polish as the question is unfolded, upturned, and examined.
Goodnight, Texas’ How Long Will It Take Them is out now.
Ian D. Hall