Strong ballads, vocals anchor latest album from Go Radio

catherine.hill

When Jason Lancaster left Mayday Parade in 2007, I wasn’t sure what would come of him. Mayday’s A Lesson in Romantics was such an incredible album, and I immediately fell in love with the smoky, flowing sound of Lancaster’s voice. However, with the 2007 announcement of the formation of Go Radio, I could only expect wonderful things. My first love came from the 2010 EP, Do Overs and Second Chances, with the single “Goodnight Moon.”

The band has released four albums, two EP’s and two full-length—the most recent being Close the Distance on Sept. 18, 2012. I’m listening to it as I write, and I haven’t really stopped since it started streaming. I just saw Go Radio on Sept. 22. They played four songs off the new album, and the immense passion and drive this band has is evident. I thought the band’s first full-length, Lucky Street, could do no wrong, nor topped. I’m glad to say, for once, I was wrong. This album exceeded every expectation I thought possible.

Starting with “I Won’t Lie,” the album blasts out of the gate with amazing vocals, thrilling instrumentals and lyrics that show love, life and growth in a few lines. Following with the next few songs, equally as strong, at the fourth track comes the hit single from the album called “Go to Hell.” I’d be lying if I said I haven’t blasted this while driving around town or danced to it in my room on repeat. It’s really catchy, and while I don’t say it often, this song was even better live. This was the closing song of their set and I screamed my heart out the entire time. This album then trails to my personal favorite song, “What If You Don’t,” a strong ballad that backs off the strong instrumentals found in other songs to reveal Lancaster’s voice and put it at a level I wasn’t aware could be reached in a single song. The 11-track album ends with “Hear Me Out,” another beautiful ballad that just makes every emotion I’d forgotten about come forth to my heart again. In the iTunes version of the album, there are also four bonus tracks; two are new songs and two are acoustic/piano versions of songs on the album.

As I said, I saw the band live and the show was one of the best I’ve been to in a very long time. They opened for SafetySuit, and for those here at convocation in 2009, were the musical act.

All in all, I give Close the Distance a five out of five. I wouldn’t change a thing about it. The band dropped a hint of a headliner in November at the show, so that’ll have me on the edge of my seat until I see where I’ll be heading to. I encourage you to check out Go Radio and hopefully enjoy them as much as I do.