Goddo - Who Cares (2001)

With the title Who Cares, you'd expect this second album from Canadian power trio Goddo to be a tossed-off affair befitting the phrase "sophomore slump." You'd be wrong. Goddo may have affected jaded nonchalance, but its members cared about their music. And it shows on this essential 1978 release. Who Cares is the group's most ambitious, satisfying and consistent offering, and thus its most popular. As always, singer-bassist Greg Godovitz's songs come in two flavors: salty odes to sex, drugs, and rock excess, and bittersweet, surprisingly tender ballads. On these nine songs, though, Godovitz -- who also produced the album under the pseudonym Thomas Morley-Turner -- strikes a near-perfect balance between hedonism and romanticism. Classically-tinged opener "Tough Times" is a rueful lament to lost innocence and the redemptive power of rock, arranged for acoustic guitar, lung-busting vocal, and mournful cello. Just two short verses and one extended chorus, it's a mature, striking piece of songcraft -- which leads straight into the sophomoric and funky balls-out rocker "Cock On." That yin-yang dynamic extends to the acoustic guitar-and-hamonica folk of "You Can Never Go Back Anymore," which sets up the pumping boogie rocker "Drop Dead (That's Who)." Godovitz also impresses by slyly using melody and arrangement to illustrate his lyrical themes. The hangover tale "Too Much Carousing" has a backbeat that pounds like the headache that inspired it, while groupie ode "Sweet Thing" is fuelled by a two-fingered, wolf-whistle guitar lick of inspired simplicity. Toss in the blue-eyed, horny funk of "There Goes My Baby," the dominatrix ode "Oh Carole (Kiss My Whip)" -- a tribute to "Rough Trade"'s "Carole Pope" -- and even comedy skits (years before they became a hip-hop staple) and Who Cares is a solid, smart, superior album that delivers the goods. A 2001 CD reissue on Canadian label Bullseye delivers a tad more, adding 30 minutes of unreleased rough mixes and instrumental bed tracks. They don't add much to the story, but who cares? Goddo fans will likely want them anyway.