Search - Go :: Whatcha Doin

The Stooges and MC5 started the Motor City's musical revolution in the late '60s with an approach to rock & roll that was primal, raw, and utterly untamed. Sure it was fueled as much by illicit substances as social revolt, but in this nasty, distorted mess was the nascence of punk rock. While the Go, Detroit's latest bunch of ill-coiffed garage-rock malcontents, don't exactly espouse the same sort of social revolution MC5 once rallied around, musically they fly their freak flag with the same snot-nosed vigor. Whatcha Doin' is exactly what primitive R&B-rock & roll sounds like in the hands of five young white boys who have a keen appreciation of fuzz-toned guitars and a knack for great hooks. The production, courtesy of Outrageous Cherry's Matthew Smith, is as raunchy and retro as the band's old-school rave-ups and definitely highlights the vocals and buzzing guitars over the simple, sloppy rhythm section. It would be too easy to peg the Go as merely derivative throwbacks if the songs weren't so damn infectious. Nearly every tune is brimming with an undeniably catchy chorus, turning every rough nugget into a gleaming gem. --Adem Tepedelen