Red & Gold
Your Napoleon
Lujo (2006)
6 out of 10
Red & Gold have a screamy, chaotic, and disjointed sound. Often they seem to cross paths with a band like Circle Takes the Square, as male and female vocals overlap in a frantic mess of spoken word and throat shredding while the guitars scamper underneath. Sometimes, like on “My House, My Shepard, Etc.” and “Darkest Day (My Hope and Song)” the band latches onto a more straightforward rock sound musically while the schizophrenic vocal delivery continues unabated. While the EP is a pretty engrossing listen, an energy packed spazz fest over the course of five songs, there are moments that really seem to distract. Said moments come as a result of the band’s lyrics. At certain moments as a bombastic section of a song dies down lines like, “Like the good book says,” or “The lord is my Shepard,” seem to come out of nowhere, changing the feel of the songs from chaotic shriek sessions to church sermons. Bands have the right to sing about any subject matter they choose but the effect of these lines on the overall momentum of the songs is slightly devastating. Just imagine if a band announced “Eat less carbs,” or “Make sure you use sunscreen” during a breakdown and you should understand what I am talking about.
-Matt Whelihan
Posted under Hometown
This post was written by MyFriendCleveland on July 20, 2006
