Goodrich - The Last Bastard

​Goodrich

The Last Bastard
​self-released; 2022

4.1 out of 5 - TOP ALBUM

By Matt Jensen

Goodrich is a musician from Bristol, UK who recently released The Last Bastard. Goodrich’s songwriting is in the tradition of Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, or David Bowie and over eight songs he displays a collection of dark, spooky, romantic tunes that are sometimes political.

The first song is entitled “The Bottom Of The World” and begins with organ and vocals. Right off the bat the vocals sounded somewhere between Jarvis Cocker and Leonard Cohen. The music moves like a slow burn and I definitely picked on the romanticism as well. As the song progresses you get some more elements like guitar and also noticed some faint vocal harmonies which sounded good. There’s also a bluesy guitar solo which hits the mark. It's a solid introduction to his sound and the quality of music you will hear ahead.

“Murder Me” brings a lot more energy. It’s a fairly upbeat song that is very catchy. The guitars combine with circular piano melodies while the drums provide a kinetic energy. It’s also a dynamic song with a lot of different parts and transitions. This is the arguable highlight of the album and probably the most single worthy.

“The Bank In The Sky” is a beautiful tune. It begins with an intimate performance revolving around delicate guitar picking and hushed vocals. Other elements start to creep in which provide some atmosphere. It feels like a flower blossoming. I was actually getting Radiohead type vibes on this song. There’s also some gorgeous horns on this song which give it a sense of mystery. Towards the end of the song, it starts to be hypnotic and mesmerizing.

“Over The Limbo” is a waltz and seems to be in ¾ time. There’s a nice flow to it and the mix of emotions was fantastic. At first I was feeling a little melancholy but the song starts to feel very confident and by the end feels cinematic and bursting with life.. Goodrich sings “And somewhere on the other side / we will meet again.” There are a couple of interpretations but to me I felt like it was about the afterlife. I would make sure to check the video below as well.

The title track “The Last Bastard” is another great song. The percussion was very well done here and there’s some spaghetti western at points which I very much enjoyed. “Perfect Lover” seems to have a harpsichord in the mix and some distant whistling. On top of that is just a very well done vocal performance. In fact this song had one of the more notable hooks.

“Blood Monster” is a huge sounding song. There’s a lot of atmosphere and a ton of passion, especially the romanticism he refers to. The orchestral strings sound fantastic. “Joanne” is the closer and this is an intimate song. It felt like a proper mood to go out on that simmers down the fantastic ride..

​This is an exceptional album. The songs are very well written and provide some variety when listening in sequential order. It's a cohesive album with a lot to appreciate. The instrumental aspects alone make for good listening but when combined with the emotive qualities really take it to the next level. Highly recommended.

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