Golden - Apollo Sounds
(National)
With all the new joke rock bands popping up, like the Champs, Oxes, and Knodel, it's important to note that even in Golden's instrumental demo tapes and first 7"s, the band was exploring the art of the hott lixx very much for comedic effect. With Golden's latest album, Apollo Sounds, once again Golden performs music at least in part for the comedy in it, using their skill at their instruments to perfectly execute some of the most gauche music possible. To Golden's credit, though, with each album, they seem to find a new style to mock (or pay respect to, depending on your viewpoint), not just reliving their previous explorations of metal, Southern rock, or fusion.
The band's latest, Apollo Sounds, is mostly funk. Think the theater in Harlem of the same name. Think the 1970s. So, of course Apollo Sounds is fun to listen to, however it also seems to be the first Golden album where the joke is the main attraction. Previous Golden albums were scorchers. Sure they were at times cheesy, but they always rocked; a glorification of the tired, old style, not just a presentation of it. Apollo Sounds isn't as special musically, even for the subgenre of high-end boogie nights funk. It is fun and funny though. When "Napenda Judy (Lakini Bad)" breaks into a chorus about Apollo Pizza, comparing a slice from "Judy" to the serpent's apple, it is downright hilarious.
The title Apollo Sounds gives Golden a new word to lyrically riff off of, mentioning the pizza parlour, the spaceship, and the theater, but unbelievably not the Greek god. All three are mentioned in party starter "Feel This Flow" which is powered by a high energy, nasty funk guitar line and chanted, hyper-rhyming vocals. Unfortunately it seems to be a little too by-the-numbers and repetitive, and the best parts of the song are the drum solo intro and the firey guitar-solo outro. "Goldenization" is a bit better as its more low key nature gives the band more time for riffing and playing with the genre instead of just reproducing it.
Perhaps it's just that Golden don't care about this genre as much as the other styles they've covered. Perhaps they don't have as many Bootsy Collins LPs in their collection as they do Van Halen and ZZ Top. The album isn't even entirely funk. "Ma Petite Est Marie" ("my girlfriend is married") is flamenco pop with both Spanish and French lyrics, and "Henry Earl Ansell" is a slow-paced prog exercise. Perhaps Golden just had too much fun making this record, and forgot to actually make great music. The album is definitely fun to listen to, but the musicianship and creativity don't stand up to their previous albums.
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