Broken Gold
Turning Blue
Reviewed by: Geno Thackara
Returning with their newest EP after some time in limbo, Broken Gold starts out with a punky blast of noise and Ian MacDougall singing like he could be ready to bite someone’s head off. In another minute you realize it’s not quite that simple. The steady fuzzed-out guitar chords soon end up trading space with cleaner tones and licks closer to alt-rock; even when the words sound angry, the songs never get to full-blown thrash. In the end they settle into a pleasant middle ground between those things. The hooks are squarely in fun college-radio territory, while they still like to turn up the distortion like they’re playing a rowdy Friday night basement party and the neighbors aren’t home.
It makes for a fun listen, if a bite-sized one at barely twelve minutes. There’s room to pound through a few fleeting rockers but sadly not elaborate any further. Underneath the electricity, the single “Turning Blue” centers around a catchy chorus that vividly reminds me of mid-90s Goo Goo Dolls spiked with a little Nirvana. “Groundwork” hits a bit heavier with some basic pop-punk riffing, but then they start getting a bit tricky with the rhythms and chord progressions – a nice change from your average static 4/4 holding pattern and a sign that these guys seem to be shooting for something more interesting.
Turning Blue feels mistimed because it’s coming at the wrong point in the year for picnics and garage jams… either that or we’re in the wrong hemisphere (take your pick). But that shouldn’t stop anyone from turning it up and enjoying it anyway. Broken Gold may be dealing with some of the no-fun aspects of maturity, but there’s no reason we can’t look at it through the rosy lens of simpler times as well.
Rating: Listenable
