Keith Goodwin
Tim Arnold
Dan Schwartz

Good Old War is another band created in the black void of a group on hiatus, and to our gain. The band begins Only Way to Be Alone with the sound of a tambourine clattering (or is it glass shattering?).  Rolling guitar licks enter, which cue the sincere vocals and handclaps. “Coney Island” is the song; it’s an earworm, but a comforting one.

Many of these folksy, acoustic-led pop songs invoke a feeling of warmth, not unlike slipping on your favorite pair of sweatpants made of cottony glory. The male vocal harmonies in songs like “No Time” and “That’s What’s Wrong” are reminiscent of The Beatles’ Rubber Soul with simple lyrics. “Stay By My Side” incorporates female vocals swooning alongside the melancholy male vocalist, and is that a sitar in the background? Good Old War’s first effort is familiar in an “apple pie smell wafting from the oven” kind of way.