The Good Wives are a trio hailing from Seattle, Washington consisting of Jake Bruggman (vocals, acoustic guitar), Nicholas Alexander (Lead guitar, bass), and Shane Berg (rhythm guitar). The band started out as principal songwriter Jake’s solo project from 2005 through 2011 when Nicholas and Shane joined as full-time band members. Benjamin Lerner plays drums on their new EP, Everything I Know, with Lukas Williams contributing backing vocals.
We receive an awful lot of unsolicited material here at Love is Pop — and I do mean awful — but once in a while something comes along that makes up for the heap of junk we have to sift through. The Good Wives’ Everything I Know is one such release. The EP consists of five solid pop rock tunes of the raw variety, nice and rough around the edges, as opposed to the overly polished stuff that can get so old after a while. These tunes — co-produced by the band and Matt McMonagle — might pack a more than sufficient amount of energy, but there’s also something calm, cool and collected about them as they shoot for Ryan Adams’ style laid back territory rather than Arctic Monkeys’ instantly infectious hooks. That said, their songs are not without the latter’s charm, the delightful “Never Speak Again” especially. There’s also a bit of a Buddy Holly vibe with songs like “Hero in the Story” and ‘Man Like Me” packing vintage guitar riffs that are simple yet glorious.
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