All Ears: The Gold Sounds' Seismic Love

When Houstonist sat down with The Gold Sounds last week, we were pleasantly surprised to be given a copy of their new album, Seismic Love, to review. In the interest of full disclosure, we'd made no attempt to hide the fact that we were fans of the band from the first time we saw them, and Houstonist is pretty darn excited to finally see an official release from these Deer Park fellows.

When a band that we had previously grown to love in a live setting hands us an official release, we get a tad nervous. Demos are one thing, but also quickly excusable - an official release can be the game changer. Questions begin to arise. Will it do their explosive live show justice? Did the producer they chose to work with muck up their songs? Are the songs too polished, too dirty, or poorly mixed? What will become of our precious opinion?

The second we popped Seismic Love into our trusty stereo our fears were washed away in a wall of sound. The album roars forth with gusto as the opening track She Got Me Singing So Low destroys anything and everything in its way. The Gold Sounds have crafted a fine collection of tunes, many of them "road-tested" survivors perfected onstage. Their closest musical cousin is likely Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Seismic Love contains rippers that feel like they could've been lifted from Take Them On, On Your Own and slow burns that would've felt right at home on BRMC's Howl.

Simply put, the album is a rock odyssey that goes to eleven [tracks, that is] and should probably be played at full volume, always, leaving nothing but a swath of blown speakers and sexy underwear in its wake. We're certain that it'll be on our shortlist for Best Houston Album of 2010 come December. Whether it is the sexy, gritty slink of Rain Machine [a track that feels like that lap dance in Death Proof], the beautiful croon of All Love Songs Get Old, or Dee Donnelly's Bonhamesque drums that close So Low, The Gold Sounds are doing it right.

Truthfully, any description we offer up [except maybe the swath of speakers/panties line up there] is merely a poor man's attempt to portray what is easily one of the best records to come out of Houston recently. It'd be a shame to see this band fade off into the ether, so do everyone in this town a favor and pick up the album. Your eardrums will thank you - once you finally give them a chance to speak up over the rock, that is.