Goldbloom - Lakehaus

Goldbloom

Lakehaus
self-released; 2014

3.7 out of 5

By Ethan Skelton

Goldbloom is retrograde, modern in production, but stuck in the big band rock/folk days of old. It’s surfy at times and other times pretty garage sounding with just a hint of psychadelia. The songs on their EP Lakehaus are niche and don’t exactly drip with material that one can easily latch onto, but the charm of the ‘60s is enough for me. I hear Beach Boys as well as The Big Bopper and it’s not at all confusing, at least for the most part. 

The instrumentation is eq’d and performed in such a way that you don’t question their passion for that older sound, going all the way down to the tuning of the drums and the thin, shimmering guitar tone. Don’t blink or this album will pass you by. I elected to listen to it a few times just to really let it sit. The songs are rather surface and don’t hit like they could initially. One last note on production, my only gripe would be the muddy reverberation on the vocals. I understand the sound they’re going for but incoherence is a good sign you’ve stepped too far down the rabbit hole.

The band hails from Austin, TX, which is a booming city for trending and new music alike. I think this group has some solid potential at fixing themselves up with a market for their musical nod to the simpler times. “Nifty Fifty” is likely the best example of this charm. The guitar noodles in a treble saturated bliss, ringing high and more present than any other time on the album. 

The drums lay down the “oh so typical” backbeat bop of snare with the 2&4 going steady like a hippie metronome. The toms create a nice pocket of mood for the pre-chorus and then it’s all about that guitar again. The final track is a nice take on the cult comedy classic, “Wet Hot American Summer.” Beyond that play on the words, I didn’t connect much between the two, but again, that’s thanks in heavy part to difficult lyrical discerning. Bottom line, it’s another fun romp into the surf and back out again. This album is about fun and good times despite life’s lemons. If anything, it should be used as a feel good tool and reserved in that respect.

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