Good Looks - Lived Here For A While (2024)

Hailing from Texas, Good Looks' singer/guitarist Tyler Jordan and lead guitarist Jake Ames embrace the music associated with Hill Country: Townes Van Zandt, Willie Nelson. But, Jordan made clear when the band's acclaimed debut album, Bummer Year, came out in 2022, "This ain't a country record." With their second album, Lived Here for a While, you have to ask: Why not? This is exactly the kind of thing country could use right now.

There are shades of the Meat Puppets' cowpunk tendencies and Rodney Crowell and Steve Earle's classic muscular Americana on songs like the great single "If It's Gone," which applies a searing guitar solo and twangy harmonies as Jordan details the reasons for a break-up ("How you're always so upset/ You can't ever give me credit/ You won't meet me where I'm at") before sending a lover off with a parting gift ("I hope you find true love and money/ Many orgasms and fame"). With its sun-squint guitar and Jordan's voice taking on a particularly warm and cozy singer-songwriter timbre, "Desert" is really just one shade away from being a country song; ditto the Jackson Browne-esque "Vaughn." And "Day of Judgment" locks into a slower groove that doesn't sound relaxed, a vibe that pervades the music of Kurt Vile—a major influence on Jordan and who, don't forget, made a record with John Prine.

Of course, much has been made of Good Looks' kinship with the ragged heartland glory of Paul Westerberg (both solo and with the Replacements), and it's evident on songs like "Why Don't You Believe Me?"" and "Can You See Me Tonight?" which gives Ames a chance to unfurl chiming Johnny Marr-style guitar. There's also a notable, super crunchy guitar solo that slices, serrated, through the shadowy feel of "Broken Body." It's a triumphant comeback for Ames, who was struck by a car immediately after the band's hometown record release show in 2022, fracturing his skull and being told by doctor not to play amplified electric guitar for a while lest the loud noise impair his recovery. (Adding to the band's trauma: On the first day of their Midwestern tour leg in 2023, their van was involved in an accident that sent it, their instruments and merch up in flames.)

As on their first album—which argued that red or blue political leanings don't matter as much as banding together against greed and corruption—Good Looks use their platform to expose working-class people being taken advantage of. The band has portended doom for the "Keep Austin Weird" ethos and music scene as the city's cost of living soars, and sings of fast-moving, gentrifying changes. "Tax breaks for Tesla/ For the workers, it's tough luck/ What the fuck is a job creator? Just stealing our labor," Jordan sings on the fiery garage rocker "White Out," about gentrification in his home state. "More density/ On paper's good/ But they're running out/ A Black neighborhood."