Skip to content
The lasting effect of constant exposure to the Rip Off Records back catalogue, Back From the Grave, and the general radiation of Destroy All Monsters has produced this 4 track guitar-athon. This is dripping with touches of the Electric Chairs, Kiss, and the Heartbreakers, but holds together as a blast of modern offering in the grande tradition of very loud guitars and loving rock and roll". - Jonah Falco
You’re gonna enjoy Goldie Dawn’s debut EP. It begins with a crash of power chords. Nothing fancy, just the sound of Cheap Trick’s ‘Surrender’ being pushed down a fire escape. Almost immediately, it explodes into a bona fide garage-punk stormer, like Brian James’ finest Damned riffs bolstered by some serious bottom-shaking – yes, we’re going there – GROOVE. ‘Gone With The Wild’ sashays and slinks around, even as it feels like it’s hurtling full throttle towards your skull. It is without doubt a tremendous slice of rock and/or roll.
Hailing from Glasgow, Goldie Dawn’s mighty racket is heralded by the dramatic presence of Kate Rambo on vocals – and hers is a formidable snarl, with shades of Ludella Black and A Giant Dog’s Sabrina Ellis. It meshes perfectly with the wall of sound concocted by her bandmates, equally capable of creating an addictive noise from the finest riffs in punk’s ignoble history (‘Crime’) as they are of making a jauntily moving country ballad that twangs in all the right places (‘It’s Nothing To Me’).
You’ve heard all these tricks before and no one here’s ashamed to admit it; the trick is in the joy that emerges when the guitars are ablaze and Rambo’s at full pelt. Remember how the humble 7” used to feel like pop’s finest weapon on the front line? An explosive device loaded with hooks and delirium? So do Goldie Dawn. Raw, fun and… what’s that word the broadsheet writers use to describe records that feel like classics even as you’re hearing them for the first time? Oh yeah: timeless. If you’re gonna wear out your stylus, playing this on repeat for the rest of existence would be a worthy cause.
Our take: Drunken Sailor brings us the debut release from this Scottish band, and if you’re a fan of high-energy, catchy, and biting garage-punk, it’s worth a listen. Two of the tracks, “Gone with the Wild” and “What’s Inside (Never Dies)” are high-speed punkers that remind me of the Carbonas or (as Jonah Falco’s blurb notes) the Rip Off Records catalog. My favorite track, though, is “Crime,” with its big, mid-paced metallic riff that would have been a highlight of the Runaways catalog. It’s not unlike the classic hardcore dirge, where you drop the tempo and tilt the scales toward hard rather than fast. The EP ends with the country-tinged “It’s Nothing to Me,” which leaves me wondering if it’s possible to pin Goldie Dawn down. This EP is an embarrassment of riches, and it makes me very curious to hear where Goldie Dawn might go from here.