by David Wilikofsky
Some bands only need to play a few notes before you fall in love. Godcaster is one of those bands. The six piece, with members spread across New York City and Philadelphia, has developed a reputation for their electric performances over the past few years. Unfortunately I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing them live; they first crossed my radar after signing to Ramp Local earlier this year, and shortly after COVID shut everything down. The band has released a string of singles since then, each one ratcheting up my anticipation for a full length album. I’m happy to report that album, Long Haired Locusts, is about to land. It doesn’t disappoint.
I’ve been agonizing over how to describe Godcaster’s sound all week, and I still haven’t come up with anything satisfactory. Some attempts that probably should have been left on the cutting room floor:
- A prog band and a funk band quarantine together “Odd Couple” style and try to write some pop songs
- The soundtrack to a movie about a superhero who likes to indulge in psychedelics a bit too much
- Songs from a Broadway musical about a quirky religious cult that is actually pretty chill
None of these do them any justice, but there’s an element of truth to each one. Godcaster’s music is knotty and complex, filled with jagged guitars and hairpin melodic turns, yet it still manages to be groovy and danceable. It’s music in technicolor. Each song jumps out of your speakers with a “pow” or a “bang”. It’s theatrical in the best sense of the word, with a clear sense of drama and showmanship on display throughout.
In the end, the descriptor I’ve landed on is “fun”. There are a lot of records I’ve enjoyed this year, some of which I’ve written about on this site, but I don’t know if any other records have delighted me as much as Long Haired Locusts. The band’s infectious energy is evident from the very first track, where lead singer Judson Kolk punctuates his vocals with ecstatic yelps and the band blasts through a punk funk workout. That energy never lets up over the album’s runtime. The music is shot through with a sense of irreverence and absurdity, whether they’re making puns off of Stevie Wonder’s name or just singing “sexy heffer” over and over again. The lyrics are kaleidoscopic, mixing the sacred and profane. An apparition of the Virgin Mary appears in the streets of Philadelphia, only to be juxtaposed with images of rats and bugs. Jesus is found in capsules and drugs. You never know what’s coming next, but that’s a large part of the fun. Everything is strange yet enthralling.
Long Haired Locusts is a fully realized vision unlike anything else out there today; rarely are debut albums this purposeful and confident. This is Godcaster’s world and we are lucky to be invited into it, even if only for forty minutes. Bottom line: this album rocks. It proves what I already suspected: Godcaster are one of the most exciting bands operating today.