‘Be My Friend’, the new single from The Goa Express, emerges from the starting gates with such an abandoned joie de vivre that it’s exhilarating and heady. It’s a shouty, slightly snotty and utterly endearing post-punk blast of energy. It takes me back to the urgency and vitality of bands like The Buzzcocks and The Damned, with touches of The Horrors.
According to the band, the song is about:
…taking a step away from those who’re always trying to get close to you and as both a shout out to individuality and an acceptance of rejection. It’s a dismissal of the modern world’s hyper-connectivity and a return to privacy, rather than the involvement of everyone knowing everyone’s business all of the time.
It’s an exciting ride all the way to the sudden abrupt ending. The exuberance of the track finds its way into the pre-COVID era self-filmed video of the improbably young looking band mucking about. Of the video, the band says:
It’s a collection of stupid nights out and just day to day stuff that had mostly been recorded on Joey’s phone. None of these videos were ever taken with the intention of them being used in a music video.
This is very exciting music from a band heralding from Todmordon and Burley and now based in Manchester. In our prescient way, Backseat Mafia saw these guys live in Todmorden back on 2018 and advised that readers keep an eye on the band: they are going places. They certainly are.
The band has signed to Rough Trade Management and you can download/stream the single here or buy a special limited edition single from here.
The Goa Express are:
James Douglas Clarke – Guitar / Vocals
Joey Stein – Guitar
Naham Muzaffar – Bass
Joe Clarke – Keyboard
Sam Launder – Percussion
Feature Photograph: Louis Butler
