The Go (Skunkhour album) explained

The Go
Type:studio
Artist:Skunkhour
Cover:SkunkhourTheGo.jpg
Released:May 2001
Recorded:Velvet Sound, Sydney
Genre:Indie rock
Length:44:34
Label:Grudge Records/Universal
Producer:Steve James, Skunkhour
Prev Title:Chin Chin
Prev Year:1997
Next Title:Essential Skunkhour
Next Year:2010

The Go is the fourth and final studio album by Australian band Skunkhour. It was released in 2001. "Home" was released as a single in 1999 and two further singles were taken from the album—"Gold Radiation" (April 2001) and "Kick in the Door".

Singer Aya Larkin said the band, which had been forced to abandon a European touring schedule after being dropped by Sony Music in 1998, had been overtaken by a sense of despondency and found it hard to write. "Chin Chin didn't go as well as we hoped it would and we felt the band's future had been discounted. It brought about a period where we questioned if we wanted to write together any more. We had a year and a half where we faffed around, tried to write, scrapped 15 songs. There'd be months where we didn't even get together to try stuff."[1]

The "Home" single, he said, "just kind of happened. We released it as an independent single to see whether or not we wanted to keep going, and people really liked the song. We approached the rest of our writing in a new way, and from that came this new album."[2]

The Go was recorded and mixed in kitchens, studios and INXS bassist Garry Gary Beers' studio in Mangrove Mountain on the New South Wales Central Coast and completed before the band was signed to Universal Music.[3]

In November 2001, six months after the release of The Go, Skunkhour disbanded, frustrated by a lack of support from Universal, which was experiencing upheavals in Australia. Larkin said the difficulties with the label meant the band was unable to maximise its opportunities. "We decided that we'd rather move on now and look at some other possibilities while we're still drawing big crowds," he told the Brisbane Sunday Mail. "Unfortunately, the last album was only heard on Triple J and some community stations, so we didn't really reach the mainstream audience with it. This was despite our hopes that the album might have taken us to another level. It was given great reviews and we really thought the music got us back in touch with the fans. But overall, we just wanted to go out on a high. We didn't want to overstay our welcome."[4]

Track listing

(All songs written by Skunkhour)

  1. "Gold Radiation" – 3:51
  2. "Kick in the Door" – 3:04
  3. "Sunny Side Up" – 3:40
  4. "Because You're Real" – 3:37
  5. "Green Grocer" – 5:31
  6. "Home" – 3:19
  7. "Today Tomorrow Yesterday" – 4:27
  8. "Something Between Us" – 4:33
  9. "Easy Pieces" – 3:59
  10. "Stadium" – 4:03
  11. "Anywhere" – 4:28

Personnel

Charts

Chart (2001)! scope="col"
Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[5] 54

Notes and References

  1. News: Holmes . Peter . Man of the hour . Sun Herald . Sydney . 1 April 2001.
  2. News: Dwyer . Michael . Happy hour . The Age . Melbourne . 11 May 2001.
  3. News: Mengel . Noel . Soul kind of feeling. Courier-Mail . Brisbane . 18 May 2001.
  4. News: Yorke . Ritchie . Just one last tour before they go . Sunday Mail . Brisbane . 18 November 2001. 63.
  5. 56.