Good Old War: Only Way to Be Alone

    Good Old War is a Philly based folk band that includes members from the now defunct Days Away (1998-2008, as displayed on a commemorative website here). For my part, I initially took a quick listen to Good Old War when I found this out about a year ago, expecting more of the same quality music and was disappointed because Days Away had two great albums in Mapping the Invisible World and Ear Candy for the Headphone Trippers, and this was watered down folk comparatively. Yet, since the disillusion has worn off more I have been able to go back and give Good Old War a second chance, one I think they could really deserve. I feel like I'm writing another pity post, second in two weeks, but actually I'm trying to expand my horizons to like more folk music. I tend to prefer indie folk such as the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Beirut or Freelance Whales, not so much purer folk. It has always seemed too repetitive to me.
    Anyway, Good Old War came to be known as such because of the names of its members, Keith Goodwin (Good), Tim Arnold (Old), and Daniel Schwartz (War). Pretty cool. They are backed by L.A. Record company Sargent House, which hosts names such as Omar Rodríguez-López, Fang Island, RX Bandits, Maps & Atlases, others... Good Old War's third LP is due out in February 2012, no title revealed yet that I could find.
    I am actually writing up Good Old War's debut, Only Way to Be Alone, which dropped in 2008. More recently was a self-titled sophomore follow up, Good Old War (2010). There is also a split EP, Good Old War / Cast Spells (2009, two tracks from each group), and a Purevolume.com Sessions (2009) EP of all acoustic renditions. The reason I went old school, is that I prefer the unique nature of each song, as critic David Driver from Sputnikmusic (full review linked) put it: "Most every song has its own crisp, distinct character, and it’s unlikely that someone will find a bad song on this album because of it." I also have to agree with his estimation of their three part harmonization, it is very tight and well used, surprisingly not overly; prevalent as it is throughout one might expect it to grow tiresome. Another reason I picked Only Way to Be Alone is I felt like Good Old Days lost some of its ingenuity. That is hard to explain, because they did take risks and experiment within the folk genre, maybe I just do not feel like they fully succeeded. There are some fabulous songs, do not get me wrong: "My Own Sinking Ship", "Making My Life" especially and "While I'm Away". My bias also comes into play I guess, because the somewhat atmospheric nature of certain songs on Only Way to Be Alone truly reminds me of Days Away, Mapping an Invisible World, in folk form, while the comparison to vocals and melodic lines is inescapable since Keith Goodwin is the lead in both groups. One example of this in my mind is the second track "Looking For Shelter". Overall, the more I listen the more I recognize ties between structure, harmony and general scope and progression of their compositional style.
    Finally, to use the words of NPR, “As the band alternately brings to mind images of 1960s doo-wop [my insertion--last track "Stay By My Side" definitely], whimsical folk and indie rock, Good Old War deserves for making simply appealing music full of great hooks” (taken from here). Simple. Appealing. Can't go wrong with that. Listen to the full album in a few places, Bandcamp (which contains their entire discography free streaming) or Hellomerch. Or just enjoy the track "Coney Island", the opener, over under 'Monthly Sample Tracks', which though perhaps not the best on the album just feels like an invitation, hopefully inviting you to hear more.