True Romance

For a band with a serious phobia of the hype machine, guitarless London hopefuls Golden Silvers certainly score very highly in indie top trumps. In fact, a summary of their CV to date places them pretty near the top of the class: Début single released on scenester label (Young & Lost Club) – check. Now signed to equally-credible-but-also-more-serious label (XL) – check. Album produced by Crystal Castles & Esser cohort Lexx – check. Tour dates lined up with Florence & The Machine – check. Booked into the ‘hip newcomers’ slot on this week’s Later… With Jools Holland – check. Micachu & The Shapes remixes coming out their ears – check. So in all likelihood they’re probably just this month’s bunch of flash-in-the-pan Hoxtonites with unfeasible hairstyles, one or two catchy tunes and an ‘80s fixation, right? 

Well, wrong actually. True Romance has enough ideas and styles coursing through its ten tracks to more than set the band apart from fly-by-night contemporaries. True, fiendishly catchy singles ‘Arrows Of Eros’ and ‘True Romance (True No.9 Blues)’ may well have the NME telling you they’re this year’s Late Of The Pier, but elsewhere the band seems less concerned with filling the dancefloor and more focused on classic songwriting, albeit filtered through a neo-psychedelic glaze that calls to mind the criminally underrated Mystery Jets. Probable standout‘Please Venus’ is a mythological ode that’s all about handclaps and harmonies, while the Hendrix-aping boogie-woogie of ‘Shakes’ sounds every bit as queasy (in a good way) as its title implies. On the down side, the less said about the similarities between the sickly sweet ‘Queen Of The 21^st Century’ and the output of corporate indie boyband Scouting For Girls the better. 

On this evidence, then, the main thing standing between Golden Silvers and greatness is an identity crisis that more than likely stems from their efforts to distance themselves from the faddish masses. Rather than flowing smoothly, the overabundance of styles and moods on True Romance creates a disjointed, stop/start feel. One minute they’re strutting their quirky funk all over our ears, while the next we’re hit with a bluesy ballad that has us practically sobbing by the end. This pick’n’mix quality gives the weird impression that the shuffle button is on even when it’s off, and the record struggles to ever really get going as a result. Which isn’t to say that Golden Silvers have failed on their first attempt. It’s just that in trying so hard to be different and stand alone, they’ve produced an album containing many great tracks, but not quite a truly great album.