Matthew Good White Light Rock And Roll Review Release Date : June 8, 2004 Label: Universal Rating: Sehr gut? Ja, ganz schoen gut! When Bush comes to shove, Matt Good comes to rock. White Light Rock And Roll Review, Good’s second long player in a mere 15 months, is perhaps one of the greatest and most direct recent musical statements in opposition to the politics of our hegemonic neighbour to the south and its fearless leader, W. Bush. Good has a reputation for never being afraid to name names and say exactly what he intends to say, and this record is no exception. The sardonic "Alert Status Red", the first single, is a poignant shot at America’s playground of fear draped over an enough is enough guitar line : Alert status red / But the sun comes up instead. "North American For Life" is a rallying cry for those disenfranchised with, well, many a thing in our shallow society, including blind patriotism, general ignorance and war. Yeah motherfucker we’re number one / All out of beer so go get your gun / And we’ll take what we wanna / Yeah we’ll take what we want to / George is teaching the kids to fight / Look at the world and tell me it’s alright. All this overt political commentary may sound a little heavy handed, but Good manages to pull the songs off without ever being unnecessarily provocatively theoretical; the emotion with which the songs are delivered outweighs any possible conceptions of pretentiousness. WLR&RR also sees Good rallying around another noble cause - loud, dirty and stripped down rock and roll. Eight of the twelve songs are full-on bare bones roll, no bullshit special effects or ProTools rubbish. This comes as a bit of a surprise, as Good’s recent releases, including demos posted on his interweb site, have pointed more towards Good’s quieter long-past folk days. Perhaps Matt has concluded that the state of the world is in such dire disrepair that what is needed now is yelling and amplification instead of quieter fare. Either way, it is a welcome surprise to hear Good this amped up. Now for the trademark contradiction - there are also a precious few quiet songs, and yes, they are every bit as engaging and/or catchy as the louder bits. "Empty Road" is a flirtation with alt-country and includes a perfectly fitting pedal steel guitar by Paul Rigby, and "It’s Been A While Since I Was Your Man" finds Good reminiscing on a more personal level on one of the few non-political statements on the album. The flirtation with alt-country comes to fruition on the hidden track, "Hopeless." It should come as no surprise that this foray across musical borders also works out quite well for Good. But back to the point - this is protest music, and it is protest music done right. Perhaps if more artists, especially in the U.S. of A. did not feel constrained by the fear of alienating the market with making statements of this nature, a sizeable movement would come into effect and substantial change could actually be made. If not, this will suffice to keep the political frustrations of many a person satisfied. Listen up. -Kevin Halpin Elsewhere Matthew Good website Published : July 14, 2004.