Goodbye June’s New Album Rocks, Classic Style

Goodbye June first entered my radar screen last December when I featured the title track of their then-forthcoming album See Where the Night Goes in a Best of What’s New installment. After listening to Breathe and Attack, which I included in my latest new music revue edition, it was an easy decision to dedicate an entire post to the group’s now-released fourth studio record, which came out on February 18.

See Where the Night Goes is the latest proof that while classic-style rock no longer is mainstream, it isn’t dead as is oftentimes claimed. Goodbye June, formed in Memphis, Tenn. in 2005, are part of what a July 2021 story in Guitar World called the New Wave of Classic Rock. Some of the other groups they noted in this context include Dirty Honey, Greta Van Fleet and Rival Sons. One band the story didn’t mention is Fortune Child, who were only founded in 2021 and may be the most recent in the pack. I featured one of their songs in yesterday’s Sunday Six installment.

Goodbye June are comprised of Landon Milbourn (lead vocals), Brandon Qualkenbush (rhythm guitar, bass, backing vocals) and Tyler Baker (lead guitar), who are all cousins. According to their AllMusic bio, they had first started making music together in their local church. The group was formed in honor of Baker’s brother who died in a car accident in June 2005. In 2009, they relocated to Nashville where they gained a reputation for their fiery live shows. Three years later, the band’s debut album Nor the Wild Music Flow came out.

Following extensive regional and some international touring, Goodbye June won first prize in 2014 in the Unsigned Music Competition. The band’s growing visibility led to a deal with Interscope Records. Their sophomore album Magic Valley appeared on that major label in May 2017. Let’s take a look at some music from See Where the Night Goes.

The album kicks off with Step Inside, credited to the three members of the band, as well as producer Paul Moak. The multi-instrumentalist from Nashville also contributed electric guitar, acoustic guitar, Clavinet, Mellotron, bass and percussion. Here’s the official video of the AC/DC-style rocker that pretty much sets the tone of the record.

Since I previously covered the title track and Breathe and Attack, I’m skipping these tunes here and go directly to Take a Ride. Like the opener, it was co-written by the band and Moak and is reminiscent of AC/DC as well. I could also see this tune on a Greta Van Fleet album.

Even high-energy rockers sometimes need to slow down. Here’s the rock ballad What I Need, credited to the band and Scott Stevens, another local Nashville artist. Call me crazy, I’m hearing some Lenny Kravitz here!

Let’s do two more: Here’s Baby, I’m Back, another Milbourn/Qualkenbush/ Baker/Moak co-write.

A tune titled Three Chords by a band like Goodbye June sounds promising, and it certainly doesn’t disappoint: Give ’em three chords/And the Holy Ghost/They’ll start a-moving/And shaking on the floor…Come on, boys, take us to rock & roll church!