Gold-Bears- Are You Falling in Love? (Slumberland- 2011)
~by Gabe McBride
60______________________
I want to like this so much more than I do. Early preview listens at Are You.. had me salivating, and that the album was being released on Slumberland made it a no-brainer, that I would be picking it up the day it came out. All the parts are in place to make this an album for me: noisy distorted guitars, bubblegum hooks, and DIY ethos all wrapped up in a ‘twee as fuck’ package. But for some reason, I have not been able to get on board with Gold-Bears, for reasons that STILL are not completely apparent after a solid 20 listens (no lie).
The lyrics are a little too emo, at times, and a certain amount of off putting earnestness and humorlessness comes through at times. But even that is not what completely puts me off Gold-Bears. It can be a fine line between bands taking the torch from their forebears (no pun intended) and another when it comes across as hackneyed and rote. Which is probably too harsh for this obviously talented band, who haven’t gotten the gist of the difference between timeless and timeworn.
For Fans of: Jawbreaker, The Wedding Present
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