Good Old War is an indie band from Philadelphia consisting of Keith Goodwin, Dan Schwartz and formerly/sometimes Tim Arnold.
One of my favorite bands. I've seen them every album cycle except this one. And the locations have always been fucking strange to the point where I tell them where I saw them the first time and they're like "...holy shit" Love love love love love these guys. And this video is a personal favorite because Tim is fucking singing, drumming, and playing accordion
@irthesteve The first time I saw them was at a "festival" in a flea market in middle of nowhere south Jersey where all the bands were playing in front of wooden picnic tables. They didn't even have a name yet. Person L and Socratic also played. It was a very strange time haha
One of the times I saw them after that I mentioned it to Tim and he thought it was so hysterical he called the other guys over to talk about it
One of the best live bands I've ever seen. Just listened to Only Way to Be Alone today. Did anyone else think they were supposed to blow up with Broken Into Better Shape?
Hi Eva! I felt like there was a decent amount of hype for it and then it was released and nothing sadly.
It was an interesting release, the lead single was definitely the poppiest, and most obvious chance they've had at mainstream success, but I am not sure there was much of a marketing push behind it. I know this was their first album without Sargent House, and I don't know if the Netwerk deal is purely distribution or if it included a marketing side of things. Either way, it's really really tough for a band 4 albums in to get a hit. It happens, definitely, but for the majority of bands you have your core fans at that point and bringing in new fans gets tougher
Honestly, no. As good as they are and as good as their sound translated to something more poppy, I feel like the majority of people would rather listen to acoustic "folk" that is already on the radio, though not quite as good imo.
Blow up was probably too strong of a word on my end but I thought it would bring them to another level - maybe close to a City & Colour as opposed to a Mumford and Sons or Of Monsters and Men.
I oddly associate GOW with TGA because of when and how I discovered them both (same time on AP) so it's cool to see them touring together and to hear them covering TGA. I'm also really bummed I can't see them in LA. The universe just doesn't want me to see Good Old War anymore apparently.
I think it was in the Minority Report TV show pilot where a character pulls out a copy of Broken Into Better Shape on vinyl and "Tell Me What You Want From Me" ends up being played over the scene. Kind of expected to hear them pop up in more places, maybe in an ad here or there, but never did.