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Great Good Fine OK - Body Diamond EP

"Body Diamond EP"

Release date: 27 October 2014
6/10
Great Good Fine OK Body Diamond EP
03 November 2014, 13:30 Written by Dannii Leivers
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It's a backstory that reads like one of those hipster-band fairy-tales that could only happen in New York. Slowly and organically, the foundations of Brooklyn synth-pop duo Great Good Fine OK were laid when lead singer - and Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson fan - Jon Sandler first began honing his pop-song-writing prowess at the tender age of ten. Fast forward to adulthood and he and producer and multi-instrumentalist Luke Moellman had become acquainted through mutual friends, working on various musical projects together. However, it was only after months of not seeing each other when the pair randomly bumped into each other again in Lower Manhattan and agreed to work on a song that things really kicked into gear.

That song became “You're the One For Me”, the clear standout track on the Body Diamond EP and the perfect introduction to its four slices of anthemic and luscious electro. Taking cues from the likes of Jungle, The Weeknd and Basecamp in withholding their identities for as long as possible, the track was already a huge online hit before GGFO consented to release even a photograph of themselves. They don't feature in its video, either - instead it focuses on a picnicking lady preparing a rather disgusting sandwich - so without anything to physically set them aside from myriad acts taking on glossy pop with a chrome, strobe-lit finish, the duo's first step out of the shadows would live or die by the strength of their debut track. Luckily it's a beauty. Taking a beat that Moellman was already playing about with, Sandler added the vocals and melody. The result is starry and infectious, defined by sugary, M83 rushes and bursts over a robotic rolling beat with a chorus that Chvrches, The Naked and Famous and Phoenix would draw blood for. It's not a million miles away from what Passion Pit were doing two years ago with “Take A Walk” - after all, Sandler has a falsetto to rival Michael Angelakos, and he even manages to keep his tunefully in check.

If anything, the EP's flaw is that the other three songs here fail to match up to the standard of its lead track. Second single “Not Going Home” comes close; its dreamy expansive synths aim for The Naked and Famous' “Young Blood”, but ultimately are too wispy and feather-soft to pack quite the same punch. Nevertheless, a couple of spins and its chorus will be well and truly lodged in your head.

That's also the case for the disco RnB of “By My Side”, where the Michael Jackson influences are most present in the nagging bassline and ubiquitous falsetto.

Final track “Say It All” comes over like a Weeknd track weaned on glitterbomb cocktails rather than copious amounts of drugs. It's a slow builder and the least catchy here, but the one that most hints at the different direction that Great Good Fine OK could take on their debut full-length.

In the few interviews they've done, Sandler and Moellman have stated that their biggest fear is being typecast to one musical genre, hinting that their building a catalogue that doesn't need fall back on gleaming choruses. Their debut album, whenever it surfaces, could be one to watch.

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