God Drives A Galaxy

God Drives A Galaxy

It's Late but I Feel Early (India)

This is an appropriate title for God Drives a Galaxy's sophomore effort, because it sounds about five years too late. It's Late but I Feel Early comes at you with so many saccharine, off-kilter hooks and riffs you'd swear it was a hot KNAC summer, circa 1995. GDG principals John Constant and Corey Butler actually were in circulation around that time, in Austin's Nogood Boyo, so this project appears to be a second crack at the same sound. Constant's gassed-out, androgynous vocals sound remarkably like Kim Deal's, marking the GDG sound as the Breeders gone Mellon Collie. "Pirate Radio" sounds like the "Cannonball" follow-up that never was. That is, good the first few times, but with a short shelf life. That sums up much of It's Late but I Feel Early, which is probably too sugary for its own good. "Tomorrow I'm a Girl" features some engaging vocals, but is undone by the clichéd Billy Corgan goth-period keyboards. Lead cut "Angel From a Ghost" is over before it starts, opening with a sample off one of those old hi-fi stereo instruction tapes. As if that's never been done before. "Rocket," the video of which is featured on this enhanced CD, emerges as the clear winner, featuring the band at their harshest and rawest. God Drives a Galaxy probably would've kicked butt on Bands on the Run, but they're really no different from a ton of alt.radio bands that litter Cheapo Discs and the Austin Music Network.