Album Review: The Go Set - The Go Set

The Go Set have clearly opted for a “less folk, more rock” approach for this self-titled release, their first studio album since their brilliant 2008 offering Rising, even recruiting renowned Oz-rock producer Paul McKercher to twiddle the knobs. The mandolins, bagpipes and accordions are still there, but they're no longer front and centre.

Opener Drums Of Chelsea doesn't stray too far from familiar territory, with a mid-paced melodic punk-rock beat, a bagpipe-based melody and a “three sheets to the wind on the rolling sea, to where that fortune waits for me” chorus. The New Age is a more straightforward rocker and Television Education follows a similar no-frills rock'n'roll approach, coupled with some effective percussive elements and vocal melodies. The narrative of All Our Friends, a track that incorporates bagpipes and a pinch of ska, tells an easily relatable story of flawed friends; while Speakers Distort is probably the best chance the band have of getting some much-deserved triple j airplay. Halfway To Hell, which features Weddings, Parties, Anything's Mark Wallace on accordion, is another highlight, as is the slower-paced reggae-based Rooftops. The album lulls a little for December and Liberty Bell, which is about as close as the band comes to ballad territory, before rounding out the 11 tracks with the even more sombre, piano-led Belfast Hill.

While The Go Set are to be applauded for charting slightly new territory on this release, the album doesn't quite reach the lofty heights set by its predecessor. Nevertheless, compared to the vast majority of Australian music doing the rounds at the moment, The Go Set are still a step ahead of most of their peers.