The Govt. – brainchild of Matt Carstens and Andrew Veldman – take the listener through a journey of varying sounds and intrigue levels in Friendly Neighborhood Conspiracies.
As the album leaves its dock it seems set on tackling a tempestuous ocean filled with adventure, thrills, and a hint of danger. “Going Out To Stellies”, musically reminiscent of Jet’s “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” but infinitely heavier, uncannily illustrates the chaos of those infamous Stellenbosch nights that invariably change a person.
After that comes “Everything Means Nothing But Love” which takes the usually hippie-dippie idea of love being the central part of the human experience and gives it a dirty, grungy face-lift.
Then, inexplicably, the ship turns hard-left for a leisure cruise along the coast of comfort and familiarity. Pop beats and structures take over to define songs like “Devil (For Your Cold Shoulder” and “Out In The Open”.
“J Song” has a touch of Jack White in its bluesy yearning and “GVMNT” has a pop-punk bite in its anti-establishmentarianism but even these fail to match the intensity of the first couple of songs.
Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing. Whatever genre The Govt. draw from, their execution is excellent throughout and their identity shines through from start to finish however the shift to radio-friendly anthems does rub some of the shine off the excitement that was so enticingly promised.
Feature pic supplied by artist
