GOOD KID
CAN WE HANG OUT SOMETIME?
REVIEW WRITTEN
BY JD ESTRADA & JOE COMPTON
RELEASED: APRIL 3, 2026
10 TRACKS = 25 MINUTES
GENRE: POP/PUNK
JOE' S THOUGHT = BLUE
JD'S THOUGHTS = GREEN
JOE: Every year, one of the cool things about doing this is when you stumble onto something just perusing Bandcamp and all of a sudden you start to read about it everywhere and see all the love its getting. Good Kid is rightfully getting its just due here. This album is chock-full of straddling lines that bend genre norms and create a beautiful burst of energy unmatched by a lot of what I have heard so far this year. This album bends your ear and forces your feet to tap until you feel like a twirling princess or skankin' mod kid on the floor of a General Admission theater show. It's infectious, impressive, and downright uplifting like nothing I have felt this year thus far.
JD: Do you like rock? Good. Do you have 25 minutes? Perfect. Go
and listen to Good Kid’s new album, Can We Hang Out Sometime. In an era
where many artists are trimming all the fat and going straight for quality
tracks and no fluff, I can’t really fault an album when they don’t have a
single misfire.
It starts right from the opening scratch riff and elongated note howl of RIFT with a chorus that just begins your bouncing and tapping experience. Love the tempo changes here too, very pronounced and deliberate, which just feels so put together and yet so chaotic in its conception. I love that during the solo, we get a little echo track that sprinkles in the background to add to its nice, chaotic feel. A nice shift happens at the end with a little strumming that fades into black softly, and it takes its time, too. Very awesome way to start.
Rift starts the album with great energy, a tight rhythm section, and dueling guitars that keep you guessing on what comes next. “You and I, nothing comes easy.” Yet somehow, this track feels effortless in how the band plays together.
EASTSIDE brings that first punkish, ska feel that, from time to time, rears up in this album. This song is very The Hives or Jack White. It's got a nice distortion, and this band is so good at tempo changes that make sense, and their choruses are where you feel and hear it most reflected. This is one of my favorites for sure.
Eastside continues the tone and rhythm. If Tony Hawk ever drops a new video game, this band would fit right in on those soundtracks. Nice fuzzy guitars and vox and I can imagine teenage rock fans playing air guitar on this. Not Guitar Hero, but a genuine air guitar.
Track three is Coffee and it has a California indie punk rock vibe to it. Bright vocals, lots of major chords, and guitar riffs that bring modern surf guitar vibes, at least for me. Echoes of those early 2000 bands like the Strokes, Hives, et al ring true, though never in a lazy or derivative way.
Just when you get ready to Mosh or skank, comes a poppier and catchier tune like COFFEE. The way the melody and rhythm of this song just ensnares you and just bounces you around in pure bliss is so refreshing and so amazingly powerful. I have a Happy Go Lucky playlist, and this is one of only three songs since the birth of Go Indie Now and us reviewing Indie bands and albums that have made that playlist. The intricate guitar work here, with soft string twangs and little bends that permeate the backdrop like a subliminal note, is encompassed within a little pure note that holds that beacon in the sky. Again, another triumphant chorus tempo change that, in this instance, slows you down and lets you catch your breath. So far, this band is perfect at transitions.
Then comes a song like CICADA that infuses the ska with the pop. Great snare drums here, and invert the exact opposite way of the previous song's chorus. This tempo change is a call back one where it crescendos into the opening riff from the melodic and fast-paced chorus. Love the full circle nature of this song. This is a very Ok Go-like feeling song with the background vocals playing more of an echo chamber, but being solid on the scale range. I mean, if you aren't dancing at this point, I am going to check your pulse. The lyric-wise too is one of my favorite reads. "You're everything I'm thinking of...From time to time, and dust to dust."
Cicada’s bassline makes me think of vintage Minus the Bear, and hell, that’s a big compliment. Drums are peppy and bouncy, and the band is super punched in.
This is a good time for an interlude for me.... I want to talk about how lyrically these songs are so perfectly intertwined within the scope of the tempos. It's like a great Slam Poetry cadence. The sophistication is not lost in that happy-go-lucky manner either. In fact its up a level from most of the cheesy choruses and rhyming anthems you tend to get in this tone. There are some deep thoughts and powerful subtexts that punctuate some silly and just fun lines.
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This is our first foray into a more 70's pop vibe with TEA LEAVES. This is one of the best shining moments for Nick Frisst, the band's lead vocalist. He gets to really reach for notes that have often been accompanied by the musical cadence, but these are more bare and more prolific as the music kind of fades into the backdrop. Then comes a wonderful little riff that carries the verses in this song and keeps that very psychedelic vibe going. This is their most radio-friendly/hit single on this album. Reminds me a lot of Weezer here. Another cool fade-out to end the song.
Tea Leaves does have a wonderful sing-along chorus that slaps, and I particularly love the slow fadeout.
The back half of the album begins with Alone With Me. More Minus the Bear vibes with a bit of indie math rock fun to keep the energy. Drumming in this song so far might be my favorite. Just love the fills and how that snare is ridden.
ALONE WITH ME returns to the pop punk vibes that have seemingly been more of the lean for this band, at least on this album. The drumming here is fucking spectacular. Again, another great chorus transition, and this has one of the more sing a long affects. Cool echo and sonic boom bridge in this one that gives us a small pause.
GHOST KEEPER rips into the song with this very Red Hot Chili Peppers vibe. Love the guitar work and arrangement here. I also love that the tempo change comes from the music instead of the chorus here. Nice change. Not the strongest song lyrically, but it's catchy as hell.
Ghost Keeper brings down the tempo a bit to give you a breather after six tracks of pretty consistent energy. The dreamy guitars interplaying with that waltzy rhythm section make this a standout track for me. In part because it stands out, and in part because it’s fantastic.
Ironically, TORNADO starts like a whimpering wind, but again, this presents a great opportunity to hear Nick's range. When this song kicks in its a nice little riff factory, but this is where I'm a little pseudo-worn down. An album like this from front to back is a tougher listen because you do get a tad bit of blending elements that make the songs tend to sound somewhat similar. It's not a fair criticism of the song itself because it's a strong single on its own, but within where it is on the album, it is starting to sound a little the same for me here.
Tornado brings back to the tempo we’d had before the previous track and flows into Wall to give a great 1-2 punch to show that Good Kid still has good rock to share.
WALL starts strong, but this is the first one where the transition seems a little off timing-wise. Great mid-tempo riff before the 2nd and 3rd verses. I feel like if I were to hear this song on its own, I might find it to be one of the deep cut gems. It is a grenade for me, as it seems to resonate and linger after the song has ended. I love Nick's little vocal whispering at the end of this song.
GINGER LEMONADE is the different feel I had been looking for and hoping for for a while now. This is a stellar finishing tune that really showcases the guitar work that has been so strong. The chorus and lyrics here are amazing too. Cool after effect in the bridge/solo portion too. Really awesome way to end this experience.
The album closer, Ginger Lemonade, rounds out a tight and fresh album that isn’t a shoo-in for my best of the year… but makes a hell of a case. We’ll see what else the year brings.
Bottom line is I think these songs are their own, there isn't a stinker in the bunch, a couple though blend together and give you a little same same vibes, but for the most part, the out and out tempo control and amazingly powerful and catchy choruses are so poignant and so masterful here. This is an album I expect to be talking about in December.
YOU CAN CHECK IT OUT HERE
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