Soviets - I Gotta Go

  by Kelly Smith

published: 6 / 12 / 2008

Label: Diffusion Records
Format: CDS

intro

Excellent debut single from chaotic, but energetic Scottish-based five piece, the Soviets

The song is called ‘I Gotta Go’, but not once in the entire song do they sing this – it’s ‘I Got To Go’ all the way through! Why omit the separation of the words for the title? I have no idea. And it has very little to do with anything, it’s just one of life’s idiosyncrasies that I thought warranted attention. The Soviets are a five-piece hailing from Scotland (and they are certainly not the Soviets from Sheffield, another band who inexplicably come out top in a Google search). 'I Gotta Go' is their debut single, but you’d be forgiven for thinking it was about their tenth for the level of confidence they appear to have on the track. They don’t seem like the kind of band who are messing around – no gentle warm up intro, no soft vocals, no easing us into the Soviets’ way of life. It’s straight into a ridiculously paced song, which turns out to be three minutes of absolute gold. Lead singer Stephen Law sounds like everything that was great about music from the 60s. He conveys so much energy that at times it seems improbable that the guitars and drums will be able to keep up, but they do, crashing through your ears like an uninvited guest. Guitars are courtesy of Jamie Cairns and John Forsyth, while Sean Doyle tackles the bass and John’s brother Stephen (keep up) is on drums. They probably practised for about two minutes before they recorded 'I Gotta Go' – it sounds like a brilliant happy mess of a song. This is better indie music than anyone else is making at the minute – maybe better than anyone has done for a few years. It might not be to everyone’s taste, but I found it cuts through weather and current affairs and no money and apathy like a blast of optimism. I wouldn’t like to live next door to them, but their tireless vigour leads me to expect great things... And if they make a video for this single which doesn’t involve them all running somewhere, I’ll give you a fiver.

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