THE GO-GO'S

God Bless the Go-Go’s
(Sony)

RATING: four

I like the Go-Go’s, goddammit. I don’t know why people snigger around me every time I put on a round of “We Got the Beat” or “Our Lips Are Sealed,” turn up the volume, and bop to what Go-Go girl Belinda Carlisle calls “sparkly California pop” emanating from the speakers. No one was happier than I was when they announced the release of God Bless the Go-Go’s for 2001.

Sure, the Go-Go’s started out as a joke—even The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll remembers that they were “comically inept” when they first started playing in 1978, booed off the stage before they finished their second song on their first appearance. But that’s all water under the bridge. The Go-Go’s have since become a success many times over, providing the soundtrack for many happy summer days and spiritually spawning latter-day pop-punk acts like Veruca Salt, Green Day, Blink 182, and Lit.

So what do we expect from the Go-Go’s in the 21st century? Much of the same, actually. But that’s not a bad thing. Press “Play,” and you’re immediately blasted with the first wave of infectiously upbeat music and the girls announcing, “Hello, World, We’re here again!”

And, yes, yes, yes, they are. It’s almost impossible to get through the first couple of tracks without wanting to stop and play it all over again, because God Bless the Go-Go’s is just so much ear-candy. But once you check the impulse, you’ll find the secret to the Go-Go’s’ continuing freshness: although there is but one overriding mood (upbeat) and one tempo (upbeat) to their music, the songs are richer and smarter than they let on. Just as you’re getting used to the beat, they’ll pull back, push forward, and pull out a few more tricks. You’ll have to be playing it for a long time before you get tired of it.

The bulk of the songs on God Bless are standard Go-Go’s fare—either happy driving music (“Stuck in my Car,” “Kissing Asphalt,” “Sonic Superslide”), girl-power autobiographical sketches (“Daisy Chain,” “Vision of Nowness”), and emotionally cathartic pieces (“Apology,” “Automatic Rainy Day,” “Insincere”). The Go-Go’s still sing as if every line ended in an exclamation point—Stuck in my car! Trying to get to you! A vision of nowness! Ride a sonic superslide!—no matter what they’re singing about. Lead singer Belinda Carlisle, who’s become a star all her own during the band’s hiatus, brings back a fuller voice—is that experience, or just age catching up? No matter. It sounds great.

The Go-Go’s also had some welcome help in making this album. A quick scan of the credits will yield names like Jill Sobule, the Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs, Anna Waronker from That Dog, and even Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day. Billie Joe co-wrote and does guest guitars and vocals for “Unforgiven,” one of the album’s highlights. You’ll know the extent of the Go-Go’s influence when you realize that you the song plays equally well as a Green Day track as it does as a Go-Go’s piece.

“Here You Are” is the odd song out, a melancholy almost-ballad with the wrenching chorus, “If you lose control/ and burn a bridge too far/ no matter where you go/ here you are, here you are.” It’s the closes the Go-Go’s can come to keening, but the 20-odd years they’ve had as a group has given them some soul, and while they don’t seem interested in pursuing this sound just yet, it does offer intriguing possibilities.

For a group that’s been together longer than some of their listeners have been alive, just putting out an album is news enough. To make a collection that adds new dimensions to their sound without leaving behind all that they’ve built, and to make it so that they sound fresher now than they ever have—that’s really an achievement. Here’s to twenty more years of the Go-Go’s.—Kristine Fonacier