Golden Boots describe their music as “alt-alt-country.” They do have a vaguely country-ish vibe to their vocal harmonies, and some of their older material is no weirder than Wilco at their weirdest. But never mind that. On their new album, The Winter of Our Discotheque, what the Tucson band really sounds like is the freakier end of the Elephant 6 collective — bands such as Of Montreal or Olivia Tremor Control. Lead Boots Ryan Eggleston and Dimitri Manos appear to be torn between two loves: pure, melodic, pop singalongs and unrestrained psychedelic mayhem. The clash between those two desires makes for interesting listening.
“He was haunted by a brand new sound,” they sing on “Ghosts,” a song drenched in echo and creepy, backward sounds. When they sing, “It’s hard to enjoy the company when they’re sitting around and eating you for dinner,” it’s simultaneously silly and genuinely unsettling — a good synthesis of the band’s two sides. On songs like “Country Bat High II,” the band starts off with a simple singalong but quickly flies off into a fuzz-guitar freak-out with a chaotic scramble of keyboards.
This is Golden Boots’ most conventional album release to date. A previous CD-R was sold sewn inside a quilt, and a vinyl release came with one side that played outwards from the center while the other side came with a double groove — you could put your needle down in one or the other and hear different music.
In concert, Eggleston and Manos can’t use all their studio tricks, of course. They make up for it by turning their songs inside out with wild improvisation.
GOLDEN BOOTS: Bar Pink, Sunday, August 2, 10 p.m. 619-564-7194.
Golden Boots describe their music as “alt-alt-country.” They do have a vaguely country-ish vibe to their vocal harmonies, and some of their older material is no weirder than Wilco at their weirdest. But never mind that. On their new album, The Winter of Our Discotheque, what the Tucson band really sounds like is the freakier end of the Elephant 6 collective — bands such as Of Montreal or Olivia Tremor Control. Lead Boots Ryan Eggleston and Dimitri Manos appear to be torn between two loves: pure, melodic, pop singalongs and unrestrained psychedelic mayhem. The clash between those two desires makes for interesting listening.
“He was haunted by a brand new sound,” they sing on “Ghosts,” a song drenched in echo and creepy, backward sounds. When they sing, “It’s hard to enjoy the company when they’re sitting around and eating you for dinner,” it’s simultaneously silly and genuinely unsettling — a good synthesis of the band’s two sides. On songs like “Country Bat High II,” the band starts off with a simple singalong but quickly flies off into a fuzz-guitar freak-out with a chaotic scramble of keyboards.
This is Golden Boots’ most conventional album release to date. A previous CD-R was sold sewn inside a quilt, and a vinyl release came with one side that played outwards from the center while the other side came with a double groove — you could put your needle down in one or the other and hear different music.
In concert, Eggleston and Manos can’t use all their studio tricks, of course. They make up for it by turning their songs inside out with wild improvisation.
GOLDEN BOOTS: Bar Pink, Sunday, August 2, 10 p.m. 619-564-7194.
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