Northern Towns – Good As Gold

It's not hard to imagine Northern Towns providing the soundtrack for a movie about late 1970's/early 1980's skinhead and mod culture in England. "Good As Gold" captures the catchy dance beats of the Jam and connects it with the piss and vinegar of Sham and the Cockney Rejects. If they really wanted to pull one over on the public the guys in Northern Towns could probably convince a lot of people that their music is actually a lost gem that was intended to be released in 1979 but never got put out because a prominent member of the band was killed in a soccer riot gone awry. While their music is decidedly nostalgic it's actually surprising that no band has actually really done exactly what they are doing. What is even more surprising is that they are from San Diego and not Manchester though that can mostly be explained by the fact that their singer, Daniel Sant (previously of the straight edge Over My Dead Body) spent his youth in England.

The first side of "Good As Gold" consists of songs from Northern Towns' 2008 demo and the first few notes of the opening track, "Latchford" have a a Gang Of Four vibe. From there on in the record alternates between Maximum R&B dance music and all out skinhead aggro. The lyrics mostly reflect Sant's memories of growing up in England and can best be summed up in a few lines from "Latchford" where he states "Back when I was a kid/When Thatcher was hated for all she did/We kept our noses clean/And the fields were still green." "Changing Of The Guard" talks about being a little kid and seeing mods and skinhead in the neighborhood and looking up to them. "Dead Waves Make No Sound" is peppered with references to the Jam and the Clash and talks about how a lack of substance in today's music in comparison to the excitement found in early Punk rock.

It seems that Northern Towns have been playing pretty regularly in San Diego, but haven't played much outside of that area. There's no doubt that they could definitely hold their own just about anywhere as "Good As Gold" is just as the title suggests absolutely brilliant. The band has recently also released a split with Sharks that is also on Swagger City Records. Hopefully this marks a trend and maybe we'll even see Northern Towns travel more. It would be quite satisfying to see this band blow up.


Band MySpace: www.myspace.com/northerntowns
 

 

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Big Wheel Online Magazine

 

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