Goodman- “Like What They Like”

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“Like What They Like” begins like a faucet being turn on full blast. One moment there’s silence, and the next, the song is on full blast. Goodman doesn’t have time for intros with a song like this. It’s too urgent. Its message too important to waste any time. That feeling of urgency and immediacy keeps up throughout the whole track. It’s under 3 minutes and every second counts, every moment is filled to the brim. For a song that sardonically criticizes the musical landscape, that kind of sonic megaphoning is the only way. And although Goodman may be young, he’s smart enough to know that.

Goodman – Debut Album “What We Want”

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Young songwriter Michael Goodman, at 22, shows his craft is far beyond his years on the debut full length What We Want. The great collection of Power-Pop gems shows off Goodman’s competence for recreating the magic of those early dB’s and Elvis Costello albums while speaking for a new generation. He boasts that the album is for “nervous young people, tossing and turning because we don’t know just what we want,” and while that’s not so far off, I feel that his appeal is much broader than he accounts for. The arrangements are simple but effective and well executed and the melodies are instantly memorable. The album is as fun as it is melancholic and contemplative, and in the midst of the great year for Power-Pop that was 2012, What We Want calls attention to itself by relying more on his song-writing chops than on the production style.