The Godz - Permanent Green Light

from the album Godz 2 (ESP-Disk, 1967).

- - -

Even further out than Contact High with the Godz, Godz Two is, at times, one of the most deliberately annoying, purposefully incompetent albums ever made. White Light/White Heat has nothing on it, though admittedly the much purer in intent, Philosophy of the World has it beat for sheer cacophony. But it's hard to get one's head around tracks like "Squeak," a nearly five-minute violin solo by Larry Kessler that sounds like what might happen if someone slowly fed a Stradivarius through a crosscut paper shredder, and the bewilderingly random "Riffin'," which sounds like the work of a set of off-their-meds paranoid schizophrenics posing as the Holy Modal Rounders. Other tracks, however, foretell the almost normal pop song direction that the Godz would explore on their next album: "Soon the Moon" and the closing "Permanent Green Light" foreshadow both the streamlined motorik sound of Neu! and other Krautrock-based bands and the inspired amateurism that was the stock in trade of the Flying Nun Records stable in the mid-'80s. A hacksawed cover of the Beatles' "You Won't See Me" splits the difference.
~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide allmusic.com



The Godz were a New York City-based garage rock band that existed from 1966 to 1973. Their music varied from early noise rock to avant-garde and psychedelic rock.

According to John Dougan of Allmusic, "they coughed up some of the strangest, most dissonant, purposely incompetent rock noise ever produced".

Category:

Music

Tags:

• The
• Godz
• Esp-Disk
• Jim
• McCarthy
• Paul
• Thornton
• Jay
• Dillon
• Larry
• Kessler
• 1967
• nyc
• garage
• rock
• avant-garde
• psychedelic

[SandozSaxonWilliams]

this is a great album, but why even compare "White Light/White Heat" with it? The Velvets were GOOD musicians...they just happened to fry recording studio (perhaps unintentionally) to convey the heaviness of their live sound...studios just were not prepared (or engineers for that matter)...The Godz are great but they can't fucking play...

This song sounds great coming down from acid...I remember quite well.

[bananimalistic]

have you listened to the last two Godz albums (godzundheit and godz bless california - although this last one is actually a larry kessler, i think, solo album. paul mcartney plays on one track on that particular record. The third album, titled Third Testament, is sort of a mix between the experimental ways of the band and the more "traditional" oriented material. I'll upload a couple of songs off each.

[TumbrelJockey]

turned on to them back in late 67- dig them more now.Couldn't figure out what the title meant (we were always attempting to decode shit it seemed however pointless to do so) Years went by HG Wells Time Machine when i was talking to a painter in a studio -glanced over at the easel & recognized some thing strangely familiar written on a tube of Grumbacher oil paint ...."Permanent Green-light".

[BenePatrisso]

This is the ultimate blueprint for bands like The Fall, Sonic Youth, etc. Really important attitude, those guys!

[willyrandolf]

DONT TRY TO APPEASE THE THEORY FAGGOTS. god damn right they cant play thats why we like them! i know that hard to understand for you uncreative, unimagintive fuckign wankers who jerkf off to joe satriani but its the truth. the goz suck!long live the godz!

[ljt1038071]

the eric moore dude is my cousin i just wanted to see if his band was popular but it doesnt look like all tht its kinda creepy dont come over next thanksgiving dude

[bloderme]

Can't find their fourth and last album, Godzundheit. I have the other three, but can't find that one anywhere. It was released in 1973 (I think).

[MrCamelneck]

This isn't the Godz ... the Godz are rock n' roll machines! :)

[SandozSaxonWilliams]

@roejogan8

perhaps, in the sense that it is totally uncomprimising, however, The Velvet Underground were great musicians even when they took a primitive approach to certain recordings.

[roejogan8]

@SandozSaxonWilliams i think it makes sense to compare white light/white heat with this. this is even more gnarly though.

[somebodysvids]

I think the lyrics mean "Be the master of your own destiny. There's nothing stopping you except you."

[FungusMossGnosis]

I'm relatively sure this isn't about street lights and driving. . . .

[steveavison]

this does fucking go on forever

[steveavison]

on and on and on and on where is a bloody red light when you need one? STOP!!!