Nigel Clark, former lead singer, Dodgy
Just heard this album and it blew me away - these guys should be all over the radio, I'm a fan!!
www.mulefreedom.demon.co.uk
Also out on Neon Tetra is the second album from Glasgow mod-rockers The Goldenhour, Always In The Now. Sporting the same soul-influenced melodies as Ocean Colour Scene, the band have the added benefit of some great Prisoners-style organ and a drummer with a beat like a blacksmith on speed.
Goran Obradovic
POPISM radio show; Serbia & Montenegro
Here's an album written/arranged and produced the way a contemporary pop rock hit record should be. The thing is that most of those "hit" records just aren't good enough for me, and after the opening pair of heavy rockers, I almost started to think that this might be just another one of "those", but ... as from the third track "Tomorrow's Too Late", a kind of a "dodgy" sophistication comes through, with all the accompanying summery feel, a concept that they revisit several times, as in "Julie's In Control", or "Pearl", with an additional touch of Zombie sophistication, and the west coast-ish vibes of "After the Watershed" aren't too far from the aforementioned, while it can also be considered as the band's statement to the label boss, showing that they can do it just as well :-). "She Gets Around/Home" is an early-Who influenced pop artistry, "Doublespeek" and "These Things Take Time" make another harder rocking pair, done in a much more apropriate way, while "Eye Contact" is a fullblown 10-minute (!!!) psychedelic rawk-out omnibus.
After their debut album released on ex-Cosmic Rough Rider Danny Wylie's Raft label, the follow up comes on the brand new Neon Tetra label, run by .... ahem, well, Daniel Wylie, the future Universal Gentle Rider ..... or something.
Rip and Burn Magazine (DH) July 2005
The Story
Glagow's hottest guitar act since The Cosmic Rough Riders
The Vibe
The Goldenhour strike just the right buzz-powerchord to emerge from the morass of rethro modernists.
Stream This
Partly Seen
3 / 5 Flames
www.sohostrut.co.uk
Rob Massey
Glasgow's finest exponents of guitar and Hammond pop have produced a new album that sets the standard for others to follow. It goes from the hard and direct - the introduction to "Doublespeak" is a particularly memorable moment - to the more melodic and laid back, such as "After The Watershed" and "Eye Contact (Parts 1 - 4)". My favourites on the album are the harder "Sometimes I", which boasts some particularly strong vocals, and the straight ahead approach of "She Gets Around/Home", with full on guitar and organ. "Julie's In Control", and "These Things Take Time" are pure, classic pop and "Always In the Now" delivers a particularly strong finale. All in all, a strong record. Recommended.
Marc Sargeant
Scootering International, Edition 232, October 2005
Long-time favourites at the Scootering office, The Goldenhour return with the follow-up album to their debut offering Beyond The Beyond from 2003. When they first caught our attention The Goldenhour had a captivating blend of high quality power-pop, British R'n'B and 60's garage. Although they retain many of those elements they have expanded the parameters of their sound, embracing elements of late 60s American West Coast psychedelia (The Byrds and Love), as well as more recent inspirations such as Cosmic Rough Riders, Supergrass, The Charlatans and Inspiral Carpets.
With stand-out tracks from the new album being Tomorrow's Too Late, Pearl, After The Watershed and Julie's In Control. The Goldenhour display their brand of impassioned indie pop rock, with melodies to kill for. While on the likes of Eye Contact (Parts 1-4) and opener Too Much Too Soon they show that they can still stir up a storm like the best of them. Jewel in the crown of this superb second album is the awesome title track Always In The Now with a faded in intro, it builds into a soaring soundscape of pop perfection.
Available from all good record shops, alternatively visit www.thegoldenhour.info for mail order details.
James Clarke, AmericanaUK.com
There is a mass of bands hoping that the music industry's sudden scramble to market guitar bands will benefit them. Some have been plugging away through the boy band/dance wilderness years, others are just kicking off. Goldenhour fall between the two, but can probably claim that their time is about due. A guitar band they certainly are - and if there was any doubt the overdriven power chords that announce "Too Much Too Soon", the opener on this, their second album, put an end to it. The Glasgow five-piece are also partial to a dose of Hammond, which adds a warming layer to their sound. They've been said to have a "Who" sound, although in reality it's more like Mudhoney and The James Taylor Quartet having a fight - in a good way. The songs on this record are all about impact, whichever side of this genre-scrap they fall into. When they're loud and raucous, they're still tight, and when they Hammond the place up a bit they don't fall into the cheesy-trap. It's probably a great live sound, but it lacks a defining characteristic. What it is though is good, solid, guitar-pop that would set the giant foam finger-waving brigade off nicely. Summed up by the track "Eye Contact (Parts 1-4)", it's full of jangly riffs and breaks. The Goldenhour have also pulled off the new Britpop staple of including a track about a girl ("Emma") which starts off beautifully acoustically and then cranks itself up into a wider wall of sound. There isn't a track on the album that you'd be at all surprised to hear playing on XFM or similar, but equally there's nothing that you'd find yourself singing under your breath three hours later, and this could well be why they've continued to hover just below the breakthrough radar. This album could do it for them, thanks to the prevailing musical wind, but it lacks that magic ingredient to set it apart from the others. www.thegoldenhour.info