Solid Gold: Synchronize Review
70/100
Local fans won’t find anything too surprising on Solid Gold’s stop gap, self released EP Synchronize. The group, which has blossomed into one of the most popular local acts after years of playing the live scene and releasing their excellent debut LP Bodies of Water in late 2008. The group is surely looking to capture some of the attention brought to them from frequent spins on local radio and nationally through their distribution deal with the new Mountain Dew record label.
The five song EP covers all of the bases of a between album EP. There are 3 original songs, 1 cover and a remix. The three originals include the song the album is named after, which is getting a lot of airplay on local NPR station 89.3 The Current. “Synchronize,” along with “One in a Million” and “Sharpshooter” all cover the same dark electro pop territory that the band explored on their first record. If you were a fan of the full blown pop sound before, this should be a nice treat to hold you over until the band puts out their next full length. If you thought the band was all hype before, there isn’t anything on this record that is going to flip your opinion. A song that probably will be love/hate for even their most ardent fans is their (hopefully) tongue in cheek cover of the song “Danger Zone,” most famous for being in the 80’s movie Top Gun. It actually meshes well with the bands sound, but it still is a song that is funny at first with diminishing returns each time after. The last song is the White Sea remix of Synchronize, for those of you who simply can’t get enough of the title track.
While it won’t hit with as resounding a bang as Bodies of Water, I am fairly certain the aims are less with this release. The record feels more like a band looking to keep their growing fan base connected than a group really taking a bold artistic step. This feels more like an appendix to Bodies of Water than a follow up, so fans should treat it as such. People expecting much more will more than likely be let down.
-Josh Keller
Writer / co-founder
