6/11 - Solid Gold

When I went to SXSW last March, you have to understand - I did my homework. I must have listened to 700 new bands trying to find the ones I liked the very best (that also happened to be playing daytime shows that required no passes or wristbands and preferably had free drinks, food, or merchandise of some sort). There were a ton of bands that I stumbled across in the course of this OCD insanity, and Solid Gold was one of my very favorites. These boys from Minneapolis are creating some of the nicest, warmest guitar/electronic hybrid pop music around today. Their songs are catchy, ear-pleasing, and clever. They make you want to dance and sigh off into space with equal delight. Their rhythm section is sharp, clean and pulsating, while the vocals are husky, reedy and melodic. Sounds like a tonic to my ears.

Solid Gold played a day show at SXSW, following up Goldilocks (who will certainly make a later apperance on this blog) and preceding/overlapping Juliette and the New Romantiques playing in the outer tent. I was one of a crowd of maybe 20 people milling around the stage, and undoubtedly the most excited of the bunch - partially because I managed to get my hands on an original formula Sparks (who the hell is drinking that shit without the crack-like energy infusion!?), and also because I had just received a text message saying "You still have a job" informing me that I'd dodged a massive layoff at work. So, quite possibly, my Sparks-infused and layoff-dodging enthusism that spawned me to yell boisterously at the band from a nearly empty room, scared them a little bit. Or I'd guess so judging by their nervous smiles in my direction, and a kind of half-wave-look-away move executed by the guitarist.

But it certainly didn't stop them from playing a great little set, and making an even bigger fan out of me.

Note: the video for Bible Thumper makes pretty funny use of an old Fabulous Thunderbirds video, so you can put the phone down and let the fashion police investigate another case.





http://www.myspace.com/solidgoldband