Black Gold – Rush

Black Gold are a perfect example of that rarity in modern music, a pop band that span multiple genres from indie and disco to rock, funk and soul with absolute honesty and not a trace of bandwagon jumping. Rush is a collection of eleven tracks by Black Gold’s motivational force of Eric Ronick (of Panic At The Disco) and Than Luu that effortlessly flips between styles and mostly stays fresh and interesting throughout.

‘What You Did’ rides in with a fat, filthy bassline (courtesy of ex-Powerman 5000 man Siggy) and Stevie Wonder keys, all wrapped in a new wave vibe and punctuated by a short, sharp stormer of a chorus, whilst ‘Run’ has the precision and melodic finesse of Death Cab For Cutie. The album’s gentle closing piano piece ‘After The Flood’ sounds like the sort of thing that Coldplay would love to write if they could climb down out of their own bottoms for a few minutes.

I did say ‘mostly’ above, and fortunately the exceptions are few. ‘Silver’ doesn’t feel as if it quite knows where it wants to go, and ‘The Comedown’ treads dangerously close to cheesy 70’s lounge pop to begin with but manages to toughen up and shine with an almost T-Rex like glam finale. Those moments aside, Rush is a sparkling whirlwind of brilliantly executed and gutsy pop that could grace any dancefloor, and deserves your attention.