Labels: Adagio830
Review by: Andy Malcolm
I am not sure if it’s telling or not that this LP kicks off with it’s catchiest, most memorable song. That’s not to say the rest is irrelevant or forgetable, just, that the first song is my favourite. Little Gold is folk who were involved in Meneguar and Woods, and I certainly substantially prefer it to the latter, given that it is more straight up and way less hippy. It’s pretty far removed from the former, so I won’t really dwell on that. Anyways, Little Gold are paddling in the pool of Americana country / folk music, and it’s easy enough to lump this in with Neil Young and other such super heroes, or Palace or Songs: Ohia if you want to get more modern on me. The music is generally melancholy, and whilst miserable folksters with intentionally clumsy beards are ten a penny, Little Gold manage to craft fine tunes that favour melody over grim misery, giving them a highly listenable nature that doesn’t even come close to outstaying it’s welcome over the LPs duration.
With “On The Knife”, what you get is a really solid LP. I would be more inclined to stick on the Spider Bags than this, as they provide a similar listen but with more variation and superior song writing smarts. Little Gold however will certainly do the trick if you’re fumbling around for the whisky with your headphones on and not a great deal to look forward to tomorrow. They have lyrics like “Why is everyone trying to pick me up when all I want to be is down?” – that right there should settle your opinion.
I like this LP, the sad, slow moments are troublesome and the slightly more uplifting songs clear the fugue. This may be a little too straight forward for some, but those scrabbling around for some crumbs of comfort may just find enough to batter a fish right here.