We may be miles apart, but Boston and Austin have two things in common: They both have music scenes that value good songwriting. By that standard, Texas-based quartet Good Looks should do well when they make their Boston/Cambridge debut this week at Cantab Lounge on Tuesday. The band is rooted in Americana and folk-pop and writes deep songs that are also catchy.
“The more you write, the more you want to write weirder songs,” frontman and lead writer Tyler Jordan said this week. “I come from a little bit more of an Americana background – I love Townes van Zandt, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle. I wouldn’t say we’re that accomplished, but we try to put good lyrics in rock’n’roll. And when you add (guitarist Jake Ames) in, it gets rockier and brings in some of that ’80s power pop sound.”
Her current single “If It’s Gone” is a moody breakup song that deals with the personal stories of both partners. “I think songwriting is about being open and letting the truth come out naturally. I’ve written a lot of breakup songs and you try to deal with things that haven’t been dealt with yet. This song is about a four-year relationship that I got out of on the first day of the pandemic. It’s an important song for me because it’s a starting point, it’s about working through the relationship and also about leaving my 20s behind.”
Good Looks’ story in recent years has largely revolved around bad things happening to a good band. Two years ago, lead guitarist Ames was hit by a car, leaving him in intensive care and suffering temporary brain damage and memory loss. After recovering, the band went on tour last year, but lost all of their equipment in a car accident.
“Hopefully we’ve put all our bad stuff behind us,” Jordan said. “It’s been weird and that’s definitely a big part of our story, but I like to think we’re coming through it OK. I’d say Jake is making a full recovery. He’s lost his sense of smell, but other than that he’s his usual weird self. When the accident happened, we got hit from behind and then drove into the back of a semi-truck; our van caught fire and we lost everything. Those were two traumatic experiences, and what happened to Jake was even worse because at least no one was hurt in the accident. It’s funny, people have near-death experiences and big revelations afterward, but we just kept going, I haven’t written about it yet. If anything, it just confirmed that we’re on the right track.”
The band’s current album, Lived Here for Awhile, was written before these experiences but recorded afterward. It’s getting good reviews and radio play, but the band’s goals are modest at this point.
“We’ve already achieved more than we ever dreamed of, even if that means going to other cities and playing in front of 40-50 people. We’re in the UK for the first time this year and that’s great. But we’re still coming home and going back to work, so our main goal right now is to make a living from music.”
