LITTLE GOLD – Weird Freedom (Part 1 of 2)

Weird Freedom is the sophomore release from former Woods band member, Christian DeRoeck and his band, Little Gold. It’s also their first album as a proper band and the inaugural release on their own Loud Baby Sounds imprint. Important things to note: they don’t sound like Woods; they are fun and make wives want to dance in living rooms; their genre shall heretofore be known as “nostalgia rock.” Zach Evans and Jennifer Lao discuss.

Little Gold – “Sisters and Friends”

Download Little Gold – “Sisters and Friends” (mp3)

From: Jennifer Lao
To: Zach Evans

Drink it up, straight out of Brooklyn, Little Gold is out with their 2^nd album, Weird Freedom. Prior to this album, the band released On the Knife, a nifty album definitely worthy of some airtime. On Weird Freedom, Christian DeRoeck teams with Brian Markham on bass and Pat Broderick on drums, both from the band Ancient Sky. Keywords for DeRoeck are Meneguar, Woods (pre-2009), and Completely Fucked.

You probably hear Woods and think, “Nah, I don’t need another Woods album.” Well, put your judgment on pause for this one because I’m pretty sure you’re capital Wrong. First off, the top track, “Half the Time,” sounds like it came off a Band of Horses album (an association that’s severed as we progress through the remaining tracks). And sure, the album features “The Kid’s Got Heart,” a track off the Woods’ album How to Survive In/In the Woods, but it’s hardly recognizable. It’s been re-mastered to encompass a wider, deeper range of emotions, complete with pauses in all the right _______ spots. Not to mention DeRoeck’s scratchy voice that delightfully compliments the distorted sound that plays along side. If you’re going to compare Little Gold with Woods, I offer you this: Woods matured into the Amazon (the rainforest, not the online store) and it hasn’t been deforested yet. Little Gold’s album fills the space of a bright, large room instead of a dark, narrow hallway.

Two questions I had on my initial go-around with this album was 1) what’s up with the album title? and 2) who the hell is Miiiiiike Swaaan? I was only able to get half of my questions answered. The band chose its album title after they noted that “our freedom in this country is pretty fucking weird.” The tracks don’t seem to carry that theme throughout the album at all, but I find that we get used to weird pretty quickly so the disconnect faded soon after I hit play. “Oh, Dad!,” a song originally written by Wooden Wand’s James Jackson Toth, is probably the only song that echo’s the album’s title with lines like “you gonna number crunch your way to a heart attack, oh dad, what’s that?” The song has more of a punk rock appeal that didn’t seem to ride the same wave the rest songs were on. Blame it on Toth.

“Sisters & Friends” is a track I thoroughly enjoyed and found pretty unique. The song set the volume of each band member at the same level. Vocals, Drums, Guitars. Now play. There are times you can’t really make out what DeRoeck is singing about but that doesn’t seem to matter because it works so well. This, coming from a girl who routinely asks the sound check guy at shows to turn up the vocals. I’m pretty much 0 for every time, so FYI, don’t.

I’m gonna coin this kind of music nostalgia rock. The upbeat songs made me feel like I was home and happy. Perhaps that’s due to the underlying sounds of country/folk music embedded in the tracks, as heard on “Bird’s Eye.” I’m not saying I want to eat apple pie now while reciting the pledge of allegiance, but a reminder that everything is okay is good from time to time. And what if I did want to? That’s the kind of weird freedom we have around here.

Zach, it’s not Boys II Men, but what do you think!? And what version of “The Kid’s Got Heart” do you prefer?

“Don’t want to talk about, so pass the bottle around.”

Jenn

Listen to the Weird Freedom on Bandcamp.

From: Zach Evans
To: Jennifer Lao

Jenn,

As I was about to write you I dropped a pair of scissors on my keyboard and broke the key between F and H. My initial reaction was to wonder if I could write an entire email without that letter (and you’ll note that I have so far), but then I realized that it was in the name of the band, so I was forced to repair the G key before continuing.

Let me first confess that I was not familiar with Woods prior to receiving Little Gold’s album. So I opened up Spotify and listened to Woods’ pre-2009 albums. I will say this: if you played the second half of At Rear House or any track from How to Survive In/In the Woods for me and then asked if I wanted to hear a new album from someone in that band, I would politely decline. I felt like the mix of ultra lo-fi production and experimental flourishes made for a generally unpleasant listening experience

Which is why I was so surprised to find that I really enjoyed Weird Freedom. I listened to it at work, I listened to it at home, I found myself humming songs from it and momentarily wondering where they were from. It’s a solid folk rock album with just enough hint of Christian DeRoeck’s psychedelic roots to keep things interesting. “The Kid’s Got Heart” blows away the version off Woods’ album. The ridiculously upbeat chorus (with horns!) in “Mike Swan” had my wife dancing around the apartment. The Band of Horses comparison you made is absolutely there at times: I heard it in “The Burn in Time,” as the layers of guitars and vocals build into something beautiful. “I’m not scared when I’ve got you by my side. When you leave, I’m terrified.”

I like your term “nostalgia rock,” and I think it’s as good as any to describe this burgeoning genre of rootsy, folk-inpsired indie rock music. I’m curious to hear how you think Little Gold fits into this scene, particularly since you were familiar with some of their previous output. Their musical evolution in the last couple years seems to be significant; can they keep going up from here? Can they stand out in a genre already crowded with talented, bearded songwriters?

“Can’t shut my eyes, can’t make these wicked thoughts subside,”

Zach

Weird Freedom is out via Loud Baby Sounds. Get it here! It’s cheap!