by Phil Scarisbrick

The break-up song is a tricky proposition. On the surface, you’d imagine it as an open wound depiction of one of the emotionally traumatic experiences we can have as humans. The grief, the guilt, the galling prospect of pushing on. The reality is, though, that no good relationship ever ends. That separation is the start of the healing process to overcome the trauma that condemned the relationship to fail. The scars we wear from these experiences never really leave us though. In their best form, we wear them like a military veteran wears their medals – as symbols that we got through it all. Often though, they can slowly rupture the suture that we used in an attempt to heal, and bleed into the next chapter.

Newly signed to Keeled Scales, Austin-based project, Good Looks, delve into this territory on their debut single for the label – Almost Automatic. Front man Tyler Jordan’s vocals inject the emotional pathos that carries the lyrical images of people haunted by their past relationships as they strive to build new ones, but set themselves up with unattainable goals. The song builds around two intertwined guitars, with bass and drums helping build toward a chorus that matches the exacerbation in Jordan’s voice in its energy. To take the song at face value, you’d see it as an expression of joy, but once you hone in on the lyrics you can see that there’s more to it as Jordan exclaims, ‘why am I waiting on you babe?’

For a label that has a knack of picking previously untapped gold, it appears they have struck again. Leaning more towards the Will Johnson end of their roster of artists, Good Looks’ debut album, Bummer Year, cannot come soon enough.