Pulling influences from the rock of Superchunk and Versus, the pop of Velocity Girl and the vocal beauty of Ida, Pohgoh remains, to this day, the quintessential female-fronted indie-rock band from “Emo’s” hey-day.
February 1994, Kobi, Matt and Brad form Pohgoh, with Keith joining on drums later in the Spring. They’re young, they’re having fun, they do two tours of the Eastern U.S. and release 3 records (all singles). Each set contains great hooks, lots of dancing and plenty of show ending noise. In November 1995, Kobi decides to leave for personal reasons.
January 1996, the boys recruit Susie, from Tampa’s Stitch. They’re still young, they’re still having fun, and they do one six week tour of the Eastern U.S., release 2 singles (one w/ our friends, Braid!), a full length and a song on Volume 1 of the “Emo Diaries” series. Each set contains lots of guitar, more great hooks, and still plenty of show ending noise.
Pohgoh bids farewell in a tear-filled final show on 2/21/98.
newgranada.com
Pohgoh play slow- to mid-tempo pop-rock, with an emphasis on sadness that evokes slight emo undertones. The song structures are fairly straightforward verse-chorus-verse, but Susie Richardson's vocals steal the show here. She has an amazing range and a strong grasp of melody that really hold the music together (check out "Superlife," "Stateline," and "Chapel of Ghouls"). The lyrics are the basic bittersweet love song type, sung in a sweet, sincere manner. I would've liked the production on the guitars to be a bit stronger, but I don't have many complaints here. I'd like to point out that the drumming is really solid...there, I did. I'm still puzzled about why I even got this CD, since it's pretty old.
Plus: doberman pinschers
Minus: now i miss my dog
Summer Salts
I think I'm ready to declare this as my favorite record of the year. I really don't want to end up saying something like "this is sooooo awesome" but I think I will: this is sooooo awesome. Okay, I said it. It must be true. Seriously, this is one emotional and fun album from Tampa Bay's (FL) pop band Pohgoh who take a lesson or two from Velocity Girl and Mineral but I would choose Pohgoh over both those bands - no contest. Singer Susie Richardsons (ex-Stitch) voice climbs into the stratosphere like angels. Her lyrics are personal and introspective and are high on the chill factor (aka goosebump-giving scale).
Jeffrey HowardKick Bright Zine
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