-=- SHGZ -=-
* Shoegaze * Indie * Post-Rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Psych-Rock * Ethereal *
ARTIST..: Gold Cage
ALBUM...: Social Crutch
GENRE...: Indie
STYLE...: Shoegaze, Slowcore, Dream Pop, Indie Rock, Post-Punk
YEAR....: 2020
LABEL...: Felte
COUNTRY.: USA
PLACE...: Los Angeles
ENCODER.: LAME 3.100 -V0
BITRATE.: 259 kbps avg
QUALITY.: 44.1kHz / Joint Stereo
SOURCE..: CD
TRACKS..: 9
SIZE....: 62.59 MB
URL..: http://www.facebook.com/higoldcage/
- TRACKLIST
1 Repeater Kember 5:11
2 Halcion 3:02
3 Introduce My Mind 2:51
4 What Is Left 3:59
5 Shadows 3:41
6 Ripples 3:56
7 Spaghettify 3:31
8 Harshmellow 3:56
9 Creepfest 3:20
Total Playtime: 33:27
Los Angeles based three-piece slow-core outfit consisting of singer/bassist
Monica Gamboa-Katz, singer/guitarist Cole Devine and Sage Ross/drums The band
combines their artistic sensibilities to foster a dark ethereal,
sonically-mature slow-core trio. Offering smooth-driving bass tempos, with
catchy guitar loops and riffs. Gold Cage is sure to warm your heart with fog,
and clouds.
*
'Social Crutch' is the debut full-length album of Los Angeles-based
post-punk-tinged slow-core trio Gold Cage. Comprised of singer/bassist Mony
Katz, singer/guitarist Cole Devine, and drummer Sage Ross, the band combines
dreamy guitar loops, delicate, dueling vocals, and slow, driving tempos to
create spacious arrangements that shimmer with atmosphere.
Warmed with tape saturation, 'Social Crutch' is an exercise in measured
minimalism, with every tone carefully sculpted to fill the vast space of each
track. Shoegaze, reverb-drenched guitars evoke Galaxie 500, Yo La Tengo,
Deerhunter and even Rowland S. Howard. Yet 'Social Crutch' remains very much
in the present, thanks in part to the band's ability to marry a range of
influences into thoughtfully structured songs. Throughout the album, Katz's
and Devine's equally laconic, whispery vocals elevate each song as they drift
in and out of each other, sometimes softly colliding in gorgeous harmony.
Album opener "Repeater Kember" captures the band's ethos with a decaying
guitar loop that sustains and repeats for nearly all of the song, save for a
heavy climax. The crest fades shortly after it begins, highlighting the
band's penchant for subtlety and restraint, even during the album's
crescendos. While 'Social Crutch' is full of satisfying slow burns, upbeat
moments such as "Halcion" and "Shadows" showcase Ross' drumming, which
provides a sturdy backbone with enough allowance for the catchy guitar 'hooks
and vocal melodies' magnetism to shine.
*
LA slow-core trio Gold Cage released their debut LP Social Crutch last week,
a sparse slow burner punctuated with moments of dreamy melancholic beauty,
dual whispery vocals and shards of abrasive post-punk. We asked the band to
take us through the album track by track - this was their enigmatic response.
Repeater Kember
Some studies may reveal what you're looking for. Knowledge is power.
Halcion
Listen to everyone speak and hear what they have to say.
Introduce My Mind
A 'Lil groove. How fun.
What Is Left
We could have done this even slower.
Shadows
A hip hop sample if you want it.
Ripples
The Strokes under water
Spaghetiffy
A song about spaghetti.
Harshmellow
Funkiller, upset the rhythm, etc.
Creepfest
Everyone is watching.
*
Gold Cage is a Los Angeles based band who just released their debut full
length on Felte Records. They are a three-piece consisting of singer/bassist
Mony Katz, singer/guitarist Cole Devine, and drummer Sage Ross. Together,
they form to create an incredibly unique project. Names of some bands like
Galaxie 500 and Explosions in the Sky have been likened to this group, where
inspiration behind guitar work is attributed. It's hard to put one label on
this band because they draw so many different elements on this record to
create a sound that is truly unique and stands out. Upon first listen, you
may classify them as shoegaze. But a closer analysis would show they are much
more than that. They incorporate elements of dreampop, indie rock, slowcore,
and experimental elements that makes for an engaging debut for a band that
many people should keep an eye on.
Social Crutch features nine songs across a thirty-three-minute album. The
mood throughout is somber, relaxing, and above all lush and pretty. The band
takes advantage of the shoegaze/slow core landscape throughout this album,
including reverb soaked vocal tones and harmonies, while having really
massive guitar work. In some tracks, the guitars taker over and create this
huge wall of noise that blankets over the track and creates an incredibly
lush and ethereal experience.
The opening track "Repeater Kember" begins with a shaker, until the drums
begin followed by a building guitar riff. The guitar sustain continues over
the duration of the next few moments working in conjunction with the other
instruments. Once the vocals begin the whole track is realized. It isn't
until about halfway through the track that Devine lets his guitar go wild as
it creates that distinct shoegaze drone over the track. "Halcion" is a slow
and chill track after the chaos of the previous. It's subdued by a lowly bass
line that balances the track well amongst the other band members. The vocal
harmonies on this track are what really shine. Katz and Devine have very
different vocal ranges where Katz are more angelic, and Devine's are on the
lower end and rely on a much heavier reverb effect on his vocals. Both
working in conjunction is a really pleasant thing to listen to. "Introduce My
Mind" puts forth a more upbeat tempo of instrumentation which is a nice
change of pace and also allows for the vocals to be put in more front and
center position. "What is Left" is a slowcore song to its bones. The slow
drum hits, the guitar that's both reverb heavy, vocals which will leave the
listener in a daze combine for such a deep experience.
"Shadows" with its reverse sounding guitar parts is very psychedelic to
listen to and "Ripples" with its more melodic driving guitar are nice back to
back tracks. Once again on "Ripples" the vocal performances of both singers
one after the other adds a depth to this track. " Spaghettify" utilizes
similar psychedelic guitar effects while Sage Ross holds the track together
with some really tight drumming. This song pushes more of a dream pop sound
with its nice twinkly guitar riffs. "Harshmellow" with its spacey guitar
work, and vocal harmonies is the type of track that will suck the listener
in. "Creepfest" serves as the closing track. It begins with very lush and
ambient style guitar strumming until the vocal harmonies work their way into
the mix. Both vocalists almost complete each other's sentences in a back and
forth dance until the drums and bass enter the song. They begin to jam out in
a poetic collaboration of reverb washed guitars that are both beautiful and
emotional. The bass with its prominent pick pattern holds down a rhythm for
the track as the drums serve as the backing force that holds the track
together.
This is as fine a debut album as any band this year has released. It has
really deep instrumentation ideas, and its diversity of genres are enough to
help it stand out amongst typical shoegaze bands and records. Some of the
nicest work on this record are the vocals. The utilization of both Katz and
Devine was a real nice touch because both have distinct sounds that are able
to bounce off of each other.
*
Throughout their debut album Social Crutch (great name by the way), Gold Cage
do a great job at making disappointment sound really *big*. The tambourines
sound as close and large as their bursts of guitar. The lyrics are bleak, the
melodies are pessimistic, the tempos are slow and the arrangements are
minimal. The male and female voices bump into each other like awkward
meetings in hallways. Drums start the songs, creating great empty spaces in
need of filling. The guitars fill them full of depressed melodies. The bass
is left to moon along at the back of the pack. This is slowcore-inspired
American indie by numbers, and it'll suit the mood of a University dorm
perfectly after Cigarettes After Sex have faded out.
*
Comprised of singer/bassist Mony Katz, singer/guitarist Cole Devine and
drummer Sage Ross - the trio combine dreamy shoegaze melodies, with a lyrical
tension of the present day environment and this is embedded in an aura of
post-punk influence ranging from Yo La Tengo and Sonic Youth to the present
day peers of Ezra Furman and Activity.
While Activity - whose own debut is released the same day - are more
avant-garde, Gold Cage have the backbone of the punk ethos through their
collective DNA, rich evocative songs dripping with hooky basslines and in
Katz and Devine's combined penchant for whispered delivery they have a knack
of making songs that stick with you.
rom lead single and album opener, 'Repeater Kember', this is the song that
shows off their influences and this was followed up by second single
'Halcion' - a song that shows off the best of New Order and Smashing Pumpkins
to the fore.
Yet the best single might be third track 'Introduce My Mind' a song that is
the most catchy of the album and ripe for radio play with the mainstream
appeal every band requires for crossover potential.
All in all, Gold Cage have made a stunning debut album that if given the
right audience may well shoot them to greater things, the band allows the
listener to hear the tightness of the band as a unit and is not as inclusive
as other works say allowing the listener to enter their world and enjoy the
view.
-=- SHGZ -=-
P.S.
** Thanks ***
*** BCC FNT IPC SSR ***
*** For Knowing Where The Music Is At ***
*** Props to CaHeSo, awesome Asian Indie/Shoegaze ***
*** And to FANG/HOUND for supporting all the Indie lovers out there ***
--===--
*********************
* NuHS we miss you! *
*********************