Review: 7 Seconds - Good To Go

Sing along with Kevin Seconds and crew: "Whoa-o-whoa-o-o!"

There's three 7 Seconds - old skool, new skool and new old skool. Old skool 7 Seconds of any kind rules. The half of New Wind (1987) not produced by Ian MacKaye found Kevin and crew slowing and U2-ing their way out of their fans' hardcore hearts. They released a few college rock records and I don't know when exactly they came back into the fold, but they did name a record "Out The Shizzy", which can't be a good thing. The cd alt.music.hardcore (1995) compiles three early 7"s and if you don't have it you know Jack S--t about the Reno, NV scene. Jack S--t was another band from Reno but that's not my point.

My point is that 7 Seconds were a cousin band to DC's Minor Threat, Ian coming up with Straight Edge while Kevin believed in positive thinking with true utopian zeal. Ian had opinions while Kevin had beliefs oozing out of his pores. He's a fanatic I'm sure but he means so damn well. Ian and Kevin also both wrote songs noting racism also works the other way against white people ("Guilty Of Being White" and "Racism Sucks"), oddities in bands you expect to be PC up the shizzy.

Anyhoo, Kevin has a new record out on store shelves. On my shelf at home I have 1999's Good To Go, which might as well be called The Crew Part (something), which is a good thing, a very good thing indeed.

Good 7 Seconds means one sound, and they can repeat it all day for all I care. The drumming is fast and never changes except for some intermittent transitions while the lead and bass guitars go to town in new and exciting ways. Good to Go is interchangeable with their release back 15 years, and I couldn't be happier. They throw in a little ska-type horn on "True Roots Show" for variety. That's all anyone needs as far as growth.

Kevin has a blog. Did I mention he has a blog? And that he coined the punk term "crew"?