This album has been out for a little while now but has somehow found its way to the top of the pile here at Shakenstir, demanding a good listening to, which proved rather enlightening. Black Gold are Brooklyn based duo Eric Ronick (vocals and keyboards) and Than Luu (guitar and drums) who’ve been working together for over three years and this is their debut album.

First impressions for me were fond memories of The Boo Radleys, with a set of fine tunes delivered with a certain amount of easy grace. But there’s more of a soulfulness here, and possible hints of Scissor Sisters on the more up-tempo numbers, as the band drift towards synth pop. There’s a strange feeling of familiarity with a lot of the songs too and, whilst there is a high degree of commerciality throughout, there is evident ability to write good songs. Like on ‘Breakdown’, where Ronick’s vocals swoon above a prominent drum beat and ‘Shine’, another finely crafted and executed number. It’s easy to pinpoint similarities with other artists as the album flows through; Lightning Seeds on ‘Idols’ and even Scritti Politti
(remember them?) on ‘The Comedown’, but whilst there is a shortage of originality, there is an abundance of flair in the execution.

The more eloquent moments though are where the music is stripped back, like on the excellent acoustic ‘Silver’ and then the closing two tracks, ‘Canyon’ and ‘ After The Flood’, where the vocals take on a greater sense of emotion, delivered with heartfelt commitment, illustrating a deeper side the band. All up then, a highly enjoyable set of great tunes, with a
level of diversity to keep the listener interested throughout. I can’t see a huge amount of global interest though, but a worthy addition to the year nonetheless.

3.5/5

www.myspace.com/blackgold

TC