Guitarist and songwriter Patrick Goddard came up as part of the old-school Long Beach and San Francisco, California scenes of the 80s and 90s with bands including Several Fish, Cara de Nada, Go Pound Salt, and Lost Cabras. He’s a solo artist these days and his latest release is the single “Apparition,” which is backed with the track “Hollow Home” and available on ghostly white vinyl as well as in digital formats. It was released in February of 2019 and all proceeds from the single go to Lung Cancer Awareness organizations. Goddard puts every bit of his West Coast rock heritage into these tracks and both have that cool, stony LBC vibe that mixes post-rock, punk, reggae, pop hooks, and indie angst.
“Apparition” is a moody, mid-tempo track that alternates between a quasi-reggae verse section and a driving rock chorus with a strong vocal hook. Horns are an unexpected bit of fun that adds much to the intro and keep the spirit moving throughout the song. Goddard deftly walks the line between grit and melody here and he gives the cut a wonderful aliveness with his creative choices. He gets your attention and he keeps it.
“Hollow Home” is the flip side and finds Goddard going deeper into his reggae bag than on the A-Side. It’s based on the legendary sound of peak 70s Bob Marley and grooves hard in that way but features some dirty lead guitar and vocals with a rock feel. It’s that hybrid California thing that we all love and Goddard and the other musicians involved turn in superb, intuitive performances. The electronic version of the single also includes a dub-style mix of “Hollow Home” that gives it even more atmosphere and headspace than the official release and shows Goddard’s versatility and stylistic understanding. Both tracks on this release show Patrick Goddard as a powerful artist and songwriter in the mold of indie music icon Bob Mould with an additional Left Coast twist. Support one of the real ones.
Get a copy of the Vinyl HERE.
