Good Grief – Shake Your Faith LP - Yellow Vinyl

Everything Sucks / Happy Happy Birthday To Me (2022)

I'm pretty sure that the first time I saw the name Good Grief, it was because of a split 7" they released with BuzzorHowl on Boss Tuneage/Drunken Sailor, though I think the first time I actually heard them was their contribution to the All In Vinyl split 7" series in 2016.  The contributed half of a 7" with Future Virgins on the other side.  I really liked their songs in particular, so I've just been keeping an eye on them ever since.

Now, granted I'm not sure that I figured it would be six years before the next release came out, but there are a lot of things about 2022 that I don't think I could have seen coming in 2016.  But hey, Shake Your Faith is here and I think it was worth the wait.  Good Grief have a strong pop punk foundation, but layered on top of that is a Pavement/Archers of Loaf sort of indie rock vibe that meshes beautifully with those strong hooks.

My pop punk bias does set in though, as I inevitably tend to enjoy the faster, hookier songs on the album the most.  "How Can I Help Falling In Love," "New Town" and "The Oldest Thing On Earth" are the songs that I keep going back to the most, but the entire album is a great listen.  It just has that vibe of an upbeat and warm record, perfect for a weekend morning where you're not quite sure if you need to get motivated to start your day or revel in the fact that you don't really have to do anything and could just as easily hang out in your pajamas all day.

Good Grief - Shake Your Faith:
https://hhbtm.bandcamp.com/album/shake-your-faith

Future Virgins / Good Grief - Split 7" - Blue Vinyl (/300)

All In Vinyl (2015)

This is round two of the All In Vinyl subscription series.  This particular split pairs two bands that I see the names of quite often, but I've never really spent that much time with.  As a result I have to plead guilty to not really knowing very much about either, despite owning records by at least one of them.  I know that sounds kind of weird, but let's be honest.  With the amount of records I buy, there's going to be some 7"s that might not get played as often as I'd like.

I had a Future Virgins split 7" with Toys That Kill.  Toys That Kill were the band that drove that purchase, but I do remember thinking that Future Virgins were pretty good and worth diving further into their catalog.  I never really got around to that, so they are still pretty much a new band to me.  The two songs on this split are pretty good.  I enjoy the music side of their equation quite a bit.  It's straightforward and catchy with hooks in the right places.  I'm not digging the vocals as much.  We all know I like some raspy/gruff vocals, but it's taken a bit to far here.  The vocals sound strained and I kind of want to check to see if the singer needs a cough drop.  These songs are pretty good, but I'm not liking it as much as I would if the vocals were slightly more melodic.

Good Grief is another band that I've seen around when buying records.  I actually thought I had something else by them already, but I guess I never bought that split of theirs with BUZZorHOWL (or at least I can't find it right now).  Good Grief lean more towards the indie rock side of the punk rock spectrum.  The vocals are clean and there are some pretty stellar backing harmonies thrown in for good measure.  The vocals remind me of The Vacant Lot and that's never a bad thing.  There's a nice amount of fuzzy guitar and catchy riffs.   Honestly these two songs are great, I really should try to find more by these guys, but there seems to be another band called Good Grief that advertises themselves as classic rock...with an edge!  I'll figure it out eventually.

Future Virgins - "No Black Cars":

https://soundcloud.com/allinvinyl/no-black-cars-1

Good Grief - "I Don't Know What To Say":

https://soundcloud.com/allinvinyl/i-dont-know-what-to-say-1