The Gold Club

American Music Club is foreign to most, but it shouldn’t be. The Golden Age, the band’s latest, comes off as a sort of calm storm – dark yet beautiful, bringing a strange peace. None of it is spectacular, but it is quite rewarding as a whole, and when it’s over, you’ll wish it weren’t.
The San Francisco group has one of the best American songwriters in Mark Eitzel, gave birth to “sadcore” music and has influenced the likes of Red House Painters and The National. American Music Club is probably less recognizable due to the band’s instability over the past 25 years. After all, its songs have never related to the late-teens/early-20s group that usually creates hype for a band, since Eitzel’s sound and lyrics befit an older audience.
The band’s sound consists of gently picked guitar, chorus harmonies and slow and steady rhythms, all centered on Eitzel’s worn and earnest vocals. Much of its music has a dark cloud over it, with atmospherics from distorted guitars bringing darkness to the songs.
Eitzel’s gift for songcraft really comes through, whether it’s the steady and elegant build-up of the opener “All My Love” or the stop-start method used on “On My Way” that makes you give it an even closer listen than you would otherwise. And you will want to listen closely to Eitzel’s lyrics, whether it’s an introspective look with “One Step Ahead,” a shot at the government with “Sleeping Beauty” or a discussion of America’s troubled youth in “The Dance.” The album is unabashedly American, singing about American cities and Southern towns and blending folk, country, rock and even schmaltzy jazz to create a hybrid of
American sounds.
The Golden Age does include a slew of songs that would be hard-pressed to stand alone. The second half of the album is full of songs you won’t remember. Still, they fit nicely with the album’s overall atmosphere.
Although The Golden Age may stay under the radar, it is a great release from a band that deserves
more attention.