| |
Review: |
|
Gold Motel are back with a new seven inch. They actually gave this seven inch a name, which is kind of unusual. They refer to it as Talking Fiction, even though there is no song called Talking Fiction on the single. This is slightly confusing, but whatever.
Now, currently i only have a digital copy of this single, thoughtfully provided to me by the kind people at their promotional company, so i cannot speak as to the quality of the physical 7". I do hope to rectify this at some point when Gold Motel come through Atlanta in late January 2011, or at SxSW 2011. But that's not really important i guess.
The A-side here is Cold Shoulders, which moves at that toe-tapping pace that Gold Motel songs seem to have, riding forward on a wave of rhythm. Ms. Morgan's voice is a little lower in the mix here, which is to say that her voice is blended with the rest of the instruments, while i found that on their album her voice was often the highest sound. This blending works, making the guitar a little more prominent than it has been in previous Gold Motel tunes. It is a nice energetic song that their fans will enjoy.
The B-side is Slow Emergency, which is a mellower tune, driven by a lovely organ riff from Ms. Morgan. Her voice is delicate here and the guitar chimes along nicely under a slight reggae backbeat. I like the drum beat, which is a faint tap, almost like the drummer is trying to be a drum machine. This is, perhaps, the closest that Gold Motel have come to new wave yet. A male voice even sings a bit, dueting with Ms. Morgan as the band channel something like the early work of The Cars. Good stuff.
In general, this EP seems to point a new way forward for Gold Motel. There is increased instrumentation, or, rather, increasing prominence of sounds from people other than Ms. Morgan. of course, the band started as her project, but it is good to see other members blending in to the sound. There is a long instrumental jam on Cold Shoulders where all five current band members play, just hammering at the instruments for the joy of making a sound together. They sound like they are having fun there, and i enjoy that.
Overall, this is another quality release from Gold Motel. I look forward to still more from this band. Keep it coming!
|
|
