"Mellow Noma"(OE061)
(click on song titles to hear MP3's!)
1. Nocturne En Poop
2. No Angel Too Fat
3. Let's Fuck
4. Yo Mama's Box
5. Boston Avenue --click for MP3
6. Found A Letter
7. How Many Miles
8. Your Dead Siamese Twin
9. These Moles On My Soul
10. Travelling With Stars
11. I'm Automatic
12. Ozone
13. I'm No Diva
14. Amphetamine
15. Plastic Cup --click for MP3
16. The Dead Dog Song
17. Fats Raises A SHotgun
18. Rock On, Fat Elvis
shawn setaro-electric guitar
steve brykman-drums
matt savage-lead vocals
daniel madri-acoustic guitar, bass,
backing vocals, lead vocals on "Cup"
now how about some reviews!
From The Noise March 1998
Tape reviews by Butch and Brenda
godboy - Mellow Noma - 18 songs
Not since Robyn Hitchcock's Soft Boys have we heard a band who wallows in this kind of lighthearted creepiness, and not since Akron's Tin Huey, I guess, has a band dared to be - how do I say it? This cheesy.
And cheesiest of all is the lazy sleaze which kicks of this long-player, attractively titled "Nocturne ein Poop". Other highlights: "Fate Raises a Shotgun" with the pick lyric, "I'd marry a gin and tonic if the tonic wouldn't go flat". This is an oddball classic of tragic proportions, along with "Plastic Cup", their druggily narrated cautionary tale and their best recording to date. Other outstanding tunes include "No Angel too Fat", which is about as off-kilter a love ballad as we've heard since Ed's Redeeming Qualities decamped to San Francisco; ditto the morbid "Dead Dog Song". Moving down the list, we have the romantically named toe-tapper "Let's Fuck", a song which has a lot going for it - a lazy leer mutates into a jackrabbit-quick stumbo-rock ejaculation quicker than you can say "Little Jack Horney". More cheese is on display on the organ wheeze "Boston Avenue"(is there such a place?). It's a glitter-coated chocolate log if ever there was. "How Many Miles" is strangely, perhaps inadvertently touching; a classic in the mode of "Whole Wide World" by Wreckless Eric or "Miles From Nowhere" by the Only Ones or even "Friction" by Television. "Your Dead Siamese Twin" will hit a raw nerve for anyone with the breakup blues; the circular guitar riff is particularly soothing. In a similar mode is "These Moles On My Soul", and side two's "Ozone"(though haven't we heard that riff before?. The bizarre cawing of 'I'm No Diva" is tortured and strung out but oddly appealing. "Amphetamine" isn't as catch as "New Amphetamine Shriek" by the Fugs, but then again, what is? To cap it all of, we get the circus-like anthem "Rock on Fat Elvis". This is the most enjoyable slab of peculiarity we've listened to in the past twelve months.
If I didn't already own a copy, I would buy this. Bueno Bueno Bueno. This is my pick for tape of the month. HHHHH
Godboy
Mellow Noma
(Orange Entropy)
It's always amazed me how many folks seem to love Half Japanese. Godboy plays the same sorta sloppy, minimalist pop. Not quite as raucous, though certainly just as technically inept.
Which is not to say these guys can't play. They can. Generally. But there's a lot of sloppiness in both the writing and the playing (and the production, for that matter). It is endearing. To a point.
Yeah, I guess I would like to hear the guys clean things up a little bit. Sometimes, there is such a thing as too much distortion. Especially when there's no good reason for it. And some of these hooks really could sparkle with a little work.
There are a lot of good ideas wandering around this disc. Sometimes, they come off. Often, though, they're lost in the haze. I can hear what the guys meant, but I'd rather they just did it. Know what I mean? -Jon Worley(Aiding & Abetting)
GODBOY - MELLOW NOMA
Okay, it may be lo-fi in sound, but the effort s there & it's a very cool
if somewhat eclectic album that deserves a good hard listen, as it pretty
well rocks out with some very different songs that will no doubt attract a
lot of different listeners.
There are some outstanding moments & even more outstanding titles to some
of the songs here, with the closer "Rock On, Fat Elvis", that really kicks
along, though my personal favourite stands head & shoulders above, "Fats
Raises A Shotgun", a slow burn with great raw guitars & vocals. A couple of
other very cool standouts include "I'm No Diva" & "How Many Miles", which
is an all too short piece. Not so slick on the production, but the songs
more than make up for that.
For more information, write to Godboy@orangeentropy.com
from Geoff Wilbur's Renegade Newsletter
At first listen, Godboy's Mellow Noma is so raw and underproduced that you might miss the mellowdies. But, as the tape says, "low fidelity...great rock!" And after a couple of listens, some of the songs' melodies - like the tune to "Traveling With Stars" - start to stick in your head. It's insidious, but it just might work!
from Metronome
GODBOY
"MELLOW NOMA"
18-SONG CASSETTE
Godboy has an endearing way of getting under your skin with their wacky song titles and twisted musical offerings. You've got to give them credit too, for even on this wickedly lo-fi effort, Godboy is doing what musicians are supposed to do... make music! I'll admit that not everyone of these eighteen songs are worth a hill 'o' beans but unless you try them out on your adoring fans (and critics) you won't know what works and what doesn't. And don't underestimate Godboy's Shawn Setaro, Matt Savage, Daniel Madri and Steve Brykman, they know exactly what they're doing and they're not ashamed of any of it. Infact, they relish the idea that this crazy stuff is actually making a splash (in one tub or another). Could Godboy be the next Boston cult band? Listen and decide for yourself.
from Instant
GODBOY
Who the hell ever said Frank Zappa was dead? I know I have compared these guys to Zappa before, but man, they are doing one heck of a job carrying the torch. Godboy just released a CD, but this tape, entitled "Mellow Noma", just came in and I wanted to give it some press. Eighteen songs, most averaging 2 minutes except for "Fate Raises a Shotgun" coming in at 447 - quite a long tune for these boys. Godboy displays deft playing, a very tongue in check attitude, and some nifty song-writing. Over the last year, this band has released something like 5 or 6 tapes and CD's - they would make Frank proud! - Moe Eisley
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