The second 2013 release from The Growlers picks up right where Hung at Heart left off. Although technically an EP, the nine tracks on Gilded Pleasures play like an LP.
Review: The Growlers – Gilded Pleasures
National Music Reviews
The Growlers
Gilded Pleasures
Everloving Records
Street: 11.12
The Growlers = White Fence + Allah-Las
The second 2013 release from The Growlers picks up right where Hung at Heart left off. Although technically an EP, the nine tracks on Gilded Pleasures play like an LP. The country influence on this release weighs as heavy as the usual ’60s pop that shines through The Growler’s albums. While Hung at Heart was an album filled with a salty, but sweet collection of odes to a new love, on Gilded Pleasures, the dust has settled and cracks are appearing. Falling in love is easy. It’s staying in love that is hard. Plaintiveness is seeping in to these relationships. “Humdrum Blues” opens with a slow thumping drumbeat before Brooks Nielsen’s signature croon and an organ twist into the song. “Not afraid of being lonely, but if she leaves I don’t know what will happen,” he wails. On “Nobody Owns You,” Nielsen’s haunting life advice returns over some woozy psych surf: “Think back about the things you used to care about and how they’re so insignificant.” Gilded Pleasures is still a bleeding-heart record, but the heart on this one is bruised and battered. The songs still go down easy. If you haven’t been paying attention to The Growlers, it’s time to start. –Jeanette D. Moses
Gilded Pleasures
Everloving Records
Street: 11.12
The Growlers = White Fence + Allah-Las
The second 2013 release from The Growlers picks up right where Hung at Heart left off. Although technically an EP, the nine tracks on Gilded Pleasures play like an LP. The country influence on this release weighs as heavy as the usual ’60s pop that shines through The Growler’s albums. While Hung at Heart was an album filled with a salty, but sweet collection of odes to a new love, on Gilded Pleasures, the dust has settled and cracks are appearing. Falling in love is easy. It’s staying in love that is hard. Plaintiveness is seeping in to these relationships. “Humdrum Blues” opens with a slow thumping drumbeat before Brooks Nielsen’s signature croon and an organ twist into the song. “Not afraid of being lonely, but if she leaves I don’t know what will happen,” he wails. On “Nobody Owns You,” Nielsen’s haunting life advice returns over some woozy psych surf: “Think back about the things you used to care about and how they’re so insignificant.” Gilded Pleasures is still a bleeding-heart record, but the heart on this one is bruised and battered. The songs still go down easy. If you haven’t been paying attention to The Growlers, it’s time to start. –Jeanette D. Moses
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