Shitbaby Mammals Play with Expectations on ‘Godspeed’ » PopMatters
Shitbaby Mammals’ Godspeed is packed with scrappy riffs, goofy lyrics, and unexpected moments of emotional resonance.
Godspeed Shitbaby Mammals Östgöta Tonarkiv 13 June 2025
“Light-spirited hard rock” isn’t what you expect from a band ornery enough to call themselves Shitbaby Mammals. Yet it’s hard to describe the crudely named Swedish band’s latest, Godspeed, any other way. The album springs up, humbly and suddenly, from a heretofore unknown confluence of militant goofiness and earnest impressionistic nonsense—scrappy songs about British crime dramas, Bob Ross, and the only Halloween film without Michael Myers.
Goofy on the surface but unflinchingly earnest underneath, Godspeed isn’t afraid to teeter on collapse. It knows its ambition, drive, and enthusiasm are enough to keep things moving, anchored by the tried-and-true power of straight-ahead riffs and anthemic choruses. Fittingly, the raw production—recorded in a converted bomb shelter outside the band’s hometown of Linköping—leans garage over polished. Compared to 2019’s Second Coming, Godspeed’s guitars hit harder, the hooks dig deeper, and there’s a cartoonish catchiness on the surface with moments of unexpected emotional resonance right underneath.
The opener, “Mr. Barnaby”, sets the tone: loud, driving, and hard to shake from your head. Here, the first of many hyper-specific pop culture references arrives, but these touchstones serve as structure more than substance. You don’t need to know who Mr. Barnaby is or care about the long-running British crime series he’s the protagonist of (Midsomer Murders) to feel that satisfying pang of recognition so essential to pulling off a gratifying rock song.
The lyrics aren’t the point, but even a glance shows how Godspeed revels in—and recoils from—nostalgia. Nowhere is this clearer than in the early standout “Season of the Witch”. Ostensibly about Halloween III: Season of the Witch—a film with no Michael Myers, but a death cult, Stonehenge, and maybe robots—the track is unapologetically silly and a little bruised. After all, haven’t we all, at some point, argued with a little too much personal conviction on the part of the least-loved book in a series, the most-maligned album by a band, or the odd duck of a film franchise?
This is Shitbaby Mammals’ real strength: making you laugh—or at least huff with approving amusement—not because of the crude band name or niche references but because they subvert your expectations, often through unfussy, mellifluous vocal harmonies that rise unceremoniously from the pummeling rhythmic crash of guitar riffs. It’s a more potent effect than you might think, especially when you’re a few listens deep, guided by your subconscious map of the ebb and flow of every rock song you’ve ever heard.
Even pacing becomes a source of comedy, although it can sometimes be initially disorienting or exasperating. Case in point: “Godspeed You! Karaoke King”. The song is exactly what you think it’s about, and its theme may fall flat for the karaoke-averse. Even so, there’s something admirable about dropping a mid-tempo pseudo-anthem in the middle of an otherwise feisty record.
“The Joy of Painting” (yes, about Bob Ross) similarly plays with pacing, but in a way that’s arguably more effective. The lyrics are the record’s silliest, reminding us that while many rock songs descend from the Beatles’ “I’m Looking Through You”, this is one of the few that belongs in the lineage of the Rutles’ “It’s Looking Good”. We return to business with closers “Passport to Drive” and “Jeopardy”—high-energy rockers held together by sheer propulsion and enthusiasm.
By the final pulses of “Jeopardy”, it’s clear: in its brisk 25-minute runtime, Godspeed covers a lot of ground. Reveling in its simplicity, prepared to be the butt of its joke if that’s what it takes, Godspeed is a plucky, knowingly goofy, and somehow affecting record, one that, for the most part, plays with its contradictions instead of hiding behind them.
Though it uses familiar ingredients—loud guitars, silly subject matter—Godspeed still feels unique. Chuckle-eliciting earworms aren’t what you expect from a band with a name as outwardly aggressive as Shitbaby Mammals. However, after a few listens, it’s clear that no other band could’ve made this album, which is precisely what makes it worth hearing.