Altsounds - Noisemakers on Noisevox delivers a band whose time has (hopefully) come: Solid Gold

Out of the clutter of more than 1,000 bands that converged on New York last week for the 2009 edition of the annual CMJ Music Marathon, how do you choose one to focus on for the latest edition of Noisemakers on Noisevox? Sure, we could have brought you the latest sensations currently enjoying blog and print blow ups, rather we bring our attention to a band that’s put in a few years in this thing called the music biz. How about a band that’s enjoyed regional acclaim, whether that region is the Minneapolis/St.Paul metro area – or the UK? How about a band that creates frequently addictive synth pop jams, has already had a cover art controversy, and has known to be sartorially adventurous? Our sentiments exactly – which is why this week Noisemakers offers up music and conversation with Solid Gold, as fresh and fun a band as there was at CMJ ’09, but also no overnight newbies. And they say they’re fine with that.

“I mean, it was six years playing together til our first proper album came out,” Solid Gold’s Matt Locher tells Noisemakers on Noisevox host John Norris, “and I think we’re happy to kind of grow up and school ourselves on how to make a record.” To be fair, the band did release three EP’s in the years leading up to their excellent 2008 debut full length Bodies of Water, one while living in their native Wisconsin, and two once they relocated to Minneapolis in 2005. And even if they haven’t gotten, in the words of band member Adam Hurlburt, “the big Brooklyn Vegan or Pitchfork post” crowds and press have continued to grow – on their home turf of Minnesota and in the UK, where outlets including the Guardian and the NME have given the boys’ often hazy, blissfully beat driven sound loads of attention. “When we finished the album,” says Hurlburt, “we kind of thought this is maybe like more of a European record.” Sure enough, England caught on first, and the band focused its energy there, touring the UK twice this year and playing live at the BBC.

There’s no shortage of adventures in the Solid Gold story, and they recount several: the band contest they entered and toyed with in order to win their first trip to London; the tongue in a potato chip bag cover art for their single “Fat Lip” that Sweden banned as obscene; and the homemade mariachi suits/salvation army women's blazers they wore for a week at South By Southwest. Good times. And good music. You’ll hear it for yourself, as the Noisemakers cameras capture four songs from a CMJ Saturday night show at Littlefield in Brooklyn – among them, “Armoured Cars”, “Synchronize" and Solid Gold’s acclaimed standout “Who You Gonna Run To?”

Since its debut on a splash page of the forthcoming site Noisevox, Noisemakers on Noisevox with John Norris has presented weekly extended interviews and performances from some of the most compelling names in music: Animal Collective, Deerhunter, Here We Go Magic, Arctic Monkeys, The Thermals, HEALTH, Vivian Girls, We Were Promised Jetpacks, YACHT, Crocodiles and many more. Discover the series today at www.noisevox.org

Embed a portion of this week's episode:

1. Solid Gold Interview Part 1 of 5 - http://blip.tv/file/2777351
2. Armoured Cars LIVE - http://blip.tv/file/27817533. Who You Gonna Run To LIVE - http://blip.tv/file/2781817 4. Bible Thumper Music Video - http://blip.tv/file/2782108