Forget About The Big Picture

Golden Silvers “True Romance (True No.9 Blues)”

I’d previously compared the Golden Silvers to the Clash, particularly for the way Gwylim Gold’s charismatic rasp fits so smoothly into his band’s stark, fluid grooves, and here they go foregrounding all that by going full-on “Magnificent Seven” with their latest single. It’s not just a Clash rip, though. “True Romance” also bears some resemblance to David Bowie’s classic single “Let’s Dance,” not to mention traces of Duran Duran, Liquid Liquid, and the Human League. Even in spite of their obvious debts to old school post-punk floor-fillers, the band sidestep hollow imitation and soulless retro affectation by feeling like the real deal in all the ways that matter — the bass and drums lock into a tight pocket, the synths sound simultaneously trashy and glamorous, and Gold hits the right balance of intimidating toughness and sly flirtatiousness. The Golden Silvers are good enough to have fit in perfectly with their icons from the early 80s had they existed back in those days, but we’re lucky enough to have them be fresh and new in our time.

Visit the Golden Silvers’ MySpace page.