The Golden Awesome: Autumn (M'Lady's)

Having been very impressed by the Amazing (although rather underwhelmed by Gold Medal Famous) I am a sucker for a band that doesn't under-sell itself on the naming front.

Toad the Wet Sprocket were never destined for the big time in my world.

So Golden Awesome originally out of Dunedin who recorded this debut in Wellington?

Turn it up and this certainly has a shimmering golden feel plus a sonic breadth and surroundsound quaiity which I am sure inspires "Awesome" when they play this dense shoegaze rock with dream-drone vocals and shifting tectonic plates of fuzzy guitar.

Guitarist Jo Contag here was in impressive bands such as cloudboy and Mink, and drummer Justin Barr was also previously in Mink. Singer Stef Animal came from Mestar if I am not mistaken. Add in bassist Matt Steindi (sorry, dunno the pedigree) and you have a sort of alt.rock sub-supergroup who here aim for a target somewhere between My Bloody Valentine, Jesus and Mary Chain, Slowdive and Bailterspace.

Which is a widescreen place to be. Although they also deliver some finely nuanced harmonics (the brief ambient shine of Blue, the heroic The Waves).

Melodies are deliberately minimal but effective, there is as much raw beauty as bludgeon, and although hardly the most original entry into the retro-shoegaze stakes, this is bound to get traction in the right circles. They've already appeared at CMJ in New York.

I note also this was released in the States through M'Lady's out of Portland in every format . . . including cassette.

Golden Awesome, taking you back to the future, or forward into the past?

You can purchase Autumn in any format from here.