I have a very large, diverse music collection. This is the series where I share with you some great bands that should be more famous. This post contains bands that start with the letter G (according to my iTunes anyway).
Geza X & The Mommymen
This one’s cheating since I’m actually friends with Geza and his wife, but unless you are very knowledgeable about punk history, I bet you’ve never heard of ’em.
Geza and the Mommymen were one of those right time, right place bands. They were first wave punk before punk was punk. My favorite songs are Pony Ride I & II, but I can’t find them, so you get some Isotope Soap instead.
Geza produced some of the most influential punk bands ever and is ultimately responsible for the California sound. He also established the use of headset microphones, which practically everyone uses now. He still produces music today.
Origin: Los Angeles, California
Genre: first wave punk, 70s punk
Years active: 1982
Ghost
Just in time for Halloween to be over, I present you with Ghost. I cannot tell whether these guys are serious with their horror rock aspects or not, but either way, they make some fun music. They even dress up in crazy costumes to perform.
Origin: Linköping, Sweden
Genre: Heavy metal, doom metal, hard rock
Years active: 2008–present
Giant Brain
Giant, improvised instrumental soundscapes. This is another band on my favorite label Smallstone Records (linked above). Plus, how can you resist a band called Giant Brain?
Origin: Germany
Genre: progressive rock, instrumental, psychedelic, Krautrock
Years active: 2007–present
Goblin
I really should have done this post before Halloween. If you’ve ever seen a Dario Argento horror movie, you’ve heard of Goblin, but you probably didn’t know it. They did most of Argento’s soundtracks including Profondo Rosso in 1975 and Suspiria in 1977.
Origin: Italy
Genre: Progressive rock, symphonic rock, electronic rock, soundtrack
Years active: 1972–1982, 2000, 2005–present
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
If you’re at all familiar with the genre of post rock or this blog, you’ve heard of GY!BE. They’re progenitors of post rock and one of my favorite bands. I was deliriously happy when, after seven years, they got back together and put out a new album. This is my absolute favorite song by them. It has a slow start, but trust me, it’s worth it.
Origin: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genre: Post rock, instrumental, experimental rock
Years Active: 1994–2003, 2010–present
Gojira
Gojira is the best thing France has ever given the world besides cheese. One of the best metal bands ever. Period. These guys are absolute monsters of sound and their drummer deserves an award for drumming or something, because he is phenomenal. It’s tough to pick just one song, but I’m giving you the first song I heard by them way back when, and the one that made me a lifelong fan. They are one of those rare bands that’s just as good live as in studio.
Gojira is one of the reason that I get so annoyed when bands like Avenged Sevenfold and Slipknot make it big, because Gojira casually poops more metal in one morning than those guys will ever produce in a lifetime. \m/
Origin: Bayonne, France
Genre: Heavy metal, technical metal, groove metal, progressive metal
Years Active: 1996-present
Graveyard
Another band that would have been great for a Halloween themed post had I done this last week. Oh well. This is straight up 70s rock and roll, only modern with a horror rock edge.
Origin: Gothenburg, Sweden
Genre: Hard rock, psychedelic rock, blues rock
Years Active: 2006–present
Gregor Samsa
Insightful readers might recognize the name from Kafka’s Metamorphosis. It’s actually what drew me to them, since I’m a sucker for literary references. These guys make some absolutely beautiful music. Just put it on, close your eyes, and let them carry you away.
Origin: Virginia, United States
Genre: post rock
Years Active: 2000-present
Greydon Square
Greydon Square is my favorite atheist rapper. Yes, there’s more than one. There’s actually a whole group of them called Grand Unified. Greydon is a genius, literally. He raps about science, Carl Sagan, the laws of the universe and all sorts of other awesomeness. This is from his latest album and it’s my favorite track he’s done so far. I have all his albums (and I actually bought them).
Origin: Compton, California
Genres: Underground hip hop, alternative hip hop, hip hop
Years Active: 2004–present
Groan
Now, I’m really kicking myself for not doing this post last week. Groan is all fuzzed out, heavy, riffy awesomeness. I heart them very much.
Origin: United Kingdom
Genre: classic rock, rock, stoner rock, doom metal, psychedelic
Years Active: 2010–present
Fish Of Gold 