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Fools Gold are a ten piece (only six on show tonight) Los Angeles based band who play straight up, no messing snappy afro pop sung mainly in Hebrew. They also feature ex-members of The Fall and We Are Scientists; it’s about an odd an ensemble as you could imagine on paper and yet within thirty seconds of their set it’s obvious that this is a special musical brew of unimaginable potency.
Their self titled debut album is an essential listen for all music aficionados either as a general example of fantastically written pop music or an example of the influence of African music on the western world. Although this isn’t afro pop mixed with indie rock in a Vampire Weekend sort of style, this is fully fledged afro pops: straight no mixer.
They open with ‘Ha Dvash’ and it’s clear that not only are the band ultra tight but they’re jamming the songs and flexing their musical muscles. There’s a lot of smiling and goofing off between the members. The songs become longer, more sprawling, more organic, the rhythms from the two percussionists build up momentum whilst Lewis Pesacovs guitar lines tease out rapid melodies. Their attitude is as relaxed and welcoming as their music is. Underneath it all Luke Tops’ bass drives the beat onwards. There is a surprisingly small crowd for the show and when I return from the bar after the uplifting 'Nadine' I find the few people gently moving to the music replaced by a wildly gyrating and enthusiastic mob that begin lapping up tracks like 'Surprise Hotel’ and ‘Night Dancing’. It’s Friday night after all and this is the perfect party sound track.
The show ends with the guitarist and saxophonist wandering around the dancing crowd, a random guy is elevated to the stage and is banging a cowbell whilst the percussion fades the band meander off stage. There’s no encore, they disappear from whence they came, fading, mirage like into the background. A rare treasure. TAGS: Fools Gold, Ruby Lounge Words by: Dan Jagger Links:
Fools Gold - Myspace
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