AH GOD “Ah God” (Halfshell Records)




 I say “Ah God!” and you say “Goddammit!” and we’re in a tomato/tomahto situation, sort of, where no one wins. It’s because of this that we have to sit back and you have to smoke a bowl (because I don’t hit that) and we have to reimagine our lives in overlapping Venn diagrams of languages of frustration. Because why? Because we need to understand each other, that’s why! Why are we even frustrated in the first place? And how can we overcome such a dire state of mind?

Let me continue, and you try to hang in there. You good and baked? OK, great. I say “Ah God!” because Ah God is a band that I was just introduced to like half an hour ago. I also say “Ah God!” because the band Ah God I was introduced to, the one from Portland, Oregon (screw you, Maine!), is a headrush and then a trainwreck of massively off-kilter psych-pop, a tornado-through-a-trailer-park flinging brightly colored plastic debris and garbage over as wide a swath of Kansas prairie as possible. Why bring Kansas into this? Why not? It’s filled with garbage and prairie! (Or so I imagine.)

Imagine the Flaming Lips, circa In a Priest-Driven Ambulance, writing tunes with Syd Barrett’s ghost and Courtney Taylor-Taylor instead of Miley Cyrus and you’ve got the gist. And that’s why you and I, in our different states of mental awareness and inebriation, should be putting our arms around each other’s shoulders and singing “Kumbaya” instead of flinging invectives at each other. This self-titled cassette, pink shell, poly clear case, edition of 100, has the capacity to wrangle peace from the cosmos and plaster smiles on even the grumpiest Grinch’s face. Do yourself a favor and tap into that vibe, won’t you? You’ll thank me later, potato.




--Ryan Masteller