reviews

east bay express

sam hurwitt

nothing's frustrating about goh, a dynamic duo that relocated from boston to the bay area last year. motorized, the sophomore album from chris harris and jay hagenbuch will release at sf's hotel utah this wednesday, is a platter that gets better as it goes along. the early tracks aren't the strongest, with the exception of "sugar", a silly little power pop song with little bits of folk and funk guitar and mixed similes: "my girlfriend is like an ice cream truck/ a happy song with goodies for me." but the later songs are worth their weight in new york super fudge chunk: an ode to the "thumb" that ends with the worry, "what if the aliens have bigger thumbs?"; a lament for "gi joe"; and a poppy, keyboard-ridden song against humanity called "cute". after a goofy burst of hubris in the singsong trifle "autograph" comes "coffee cup," a lovely breakup song with guests bowing cello and bass and harris lamenting, "i guess we failed to let each other in/ she reads me like a comic book/ i read her like a dirty magazine."

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