Little Gold on Sophomore Lounge Records

This single from Little Gold arrived from Sophomore Lounge Records. A lot in common with an earlier single on Heartbreak Beat Records, but the fully layered indie country sound is bigger, the melodies harmonically crafted, and the low distortion is always on the vocal. Mostly sounding like they're having fun without breaking bottles.

There's a color insert for the children of a crazy sesame street birthday scene with monkey stickers and adult, very out of place captions, sort of in the style of this party single, don't get too bent out of shape. A trifecta of folk '70s icons greets you over the handwritten lyrics on the reverse.

The A-Side, "Mike Swan" is just the name of a dude that hit Christian Deroeck, founder of Woods and Meneguar, who was innocently riding his bike one day. But of course Christian turned that catastrophe at the corner of Willoughby into gold with this track. The actual swans on the sleeve were extra confusing. I know swans can be insanely aggressive and I think I thought maybe one of the birds happened to chase Christian on a park path off his bike? It's not unbelievable.
But Little Gold is able to cleverly craft this song to be fun and catchy while essentially being a story song about a tiny inconsequential incident, and of course those moments can say a lot more about life. I can relate to this more than most songs and not just because it's about riding a bike in Brooklyn (wear a helmet) but because it's that everyday situation and the fact that they both 'allegedly' were drunk and also high diffused the situation into a simple accident. I'm constantly telling myself to calm down and not be so insanely defensive when an inevitable pedestrian or car runs into he bike lane....take it easy. I mean they both could have been watching out for each other a little better. But thankfully it ended alright, no hospitals no lawsuits, everybody go home, a little scrape, no big deal. It has a slight bar jam country feel, a bent electric guitar with layered wavering vocals. Great harmonies especially when singing the title of the track. "Mike Swan" is the most beautiful part of the whole thing, a nice tribute to the driver and Christians songwriting. There's a Beirut gypsy horn melody towards the end bringing this side safely home.

I hope Mike gets to hear this.

The B-Side, "Oh, Dad" is a cover of a James Toth (Of Wooden Wand) song which they grunge up a bit here. At first it sounds like quotes or advice from the Dad, but it's actually the son after the Dad. He's past that age of defiance when you criticize everything your parents do. Dad's an equal, he's a person, and the protagonist isn't disappointed here so much as just sad that he sees the way his Dad gets treated and is worried he's letting himself get walked on a little. It's a nice sentiment, the "In Defense of Dad" song, sounding very dirty garage'd out. A little distortion on the vocal, definitely with attitude. The sleeve photo couldn't be more perfect on this side of a '70s photo of a Dad in the backyard, next to the chainlink fence reluctantly waving to the camera. bog collar polyester brown jacket. Beard and sunglasses. Sort of happy times.
Dad's change and sometimes you start to question if his life choices make sense...Oh, Dad. Not unlike the teenage "Oh. Dad" which is always disappointed. It all comes back around.

Check out these tracks from Little Gold and get this one from Sophmore Lounge Records.

Little Gold on Heartbreak Beat Records

Little Gold, another band from Brooklyn I've never come across before, but then again, that's never surprising...I think it would literally be impossible to even claim to have even heard of all the bands in Brooklyn that have even been around 2 or more years.
Little Gold is a little like their name, unassuming and shiny...this is a sort of nostalgic Brooklyn, the broken down warehouses of Greenpoint's waterfront, the creaking of an old storefront sign. It's a sort of country alt-loneliness that can come from being surrounded by so many people. Little Gold is drawing on that long tradition of modern country, which is based more in mood than NASCAR and cowboy hats. Like Fleet Foxes or Bon Iver they start with a standard instrumentation of electric guitar and drums but instead pick up the pace into almost pop areas. It's no surprise Christian was in Woods, this shares a similar sensibility...a classic rock sound focused on pure melody.

"Totally Fucked!" the A-Side is probably referring to indiscretions in a motor home, but delivered at pop speed with backup harmonies, the tragedy becomes something to sing along to. A xylophone melody takes it almost over the top working against the idea of being totally fucked, it really doesn't seem so bad. The B-Side, "Chainsaw" is equally ominous turned back on itself into pop rock about cutting off his arm, and other self mutilation. It's definitely a contradiction, turning what could be easily oppressive sentiments into practically fun...until you start paying attention again.

Appropriately on clear gold vinyl from Heartbreak Beat Records.