A trio based out of Liverpool, Good Grief formed back in 2012 and looked set to make a real splash on the DIY scene after sharing their 2013 EP, released via the much-missed Odd Box Records. After touring on both sides of the Atlantic, that pesky “real life”, got in the way and the rockstar lifestyle took something of a back-seat. Although they never officially broke up, they did in some ways get back together, reactivating the project in 2018 and beginning work on the songs that became their long-anticipated debut album, Shake Your Faith. The record is set for release next month as a joint effort between Happy Happy Birthday To Me and Everything Sucks Music, and today the band are premiering the latest single from it, The Pony Remark.

Discussing The Pony Remark, Will Fitzpatrick from the band suggest it’s a reflection on the enduring trope of the romanticism of the tortured artist, “this never seemed very healthy to me. Mental health is one of the major themes of the album, and this song explores that with nods to the author David Grossman and one of the funniest early episodes of Seinfeld. Does that sound like we’re over-reaching conceptually? We gave it one of the album’s sunniest melodies, to be on the safe side.”

Musically, the track walks the line between the alt-rock of the mid-1990s and more contemporary DIY-punk bands with steady driving guitar chords and thrilling clattering drums bringing to mind the likes of Doe or Superchunk. There’s a particularly brilliant break-down that arrives three minutes in, a reminder that even with a sound as classic as Good Grief’s there’s always room for a surprise or two along the way.

The accompanying video was made by Sohrab Habibion, a friend of the band and member of the bands SAVAK and Zwei Null Zwei, as the band recall, “the footage was shot at home and in the practice room – as you can see, there was a lot of tea involved”. Their debut album might have been a long time coming, but on this evidence, Good Grief are a band well worth waiting for.

Shake Your Faith is out March 18th via Everything Sucks (UK) / Happy Happy Birthday To Me (US). For more information on Good Grief visit https://linktr.ee/Goodgrieflpool.