Folk music fans are a fairly pedantic bunch at times. In a genre that can encompass everything from classical harp to Woody Guthrie to Alabama 3, it can be difficult to categorise just what folk is. Not since the great ‘are Green Day punk’ rows of the late 90s have we had such diverse views on what should be a fairly straightforward genre.
Well, here’s a heads up. I’m about to break one of the cardinal rules of music journalism. Yeah, I’m about to play the horse card.
All music is folk music. I ain’t never heard no horse sing.
Louis Armstrong
It’s a cop out. It’s a catch all quote that allows music fans to label any damn song they want as folk music. It’s lazy journalism. But, it’s true.
Today we’re mostly listening to the aural delights of Bangor based electro-pop act Go Wolf. Closer to Metronomy than Mumford, they’re catchy and pen a great pop tune. Like Beck Hansen, Eels or Ben Gibbard’s Postal Service they utilise loops and synths to carry their tales and aren’t afraid to remix a tune or drop a Drake cover live.
Telling great stories, taking tunes on the road, entertaining and making good music sound great. Folk? Pop? Indie? Electro? We’re not bothered by what label pops up in our iTunes library. A wise man once told us there were only two types of music; good and bad. Love good music. Love Go Wolf.