I was very surprised a few weeks ago when I had a message from Norwegian pop punks Goldenboy. I was aware of the band back in the early 2000s, when I was going through a big pop punk phase, thanks to their album Right Kind Of Wrong but had no idea they were still going. It turns out the band have recently released a brand new EP titled Adult Disorientated Rock.
The five track EP starts with Old And Boring. As soon as the first verse hit memories of Goldenboy came flashing back to. It's definitely more in line with the MTV style of pop punk than Ramonescore but the songs are so well written it's difficult not to enjoy this. The song is an ode to the life of Goldenboy and all the friends they've made and experiences they've had throughout the band’s existence. The standout moment in the song is, without any doubt, the chorus. When the melody picks up pace and the group vocals and harmonies come in – this is Goldenboy at their best. Faded Photographs is about looking back at the past and seeing a different person to the one you are today. It's a reasonably up-tempo song that quickly gets stuck in your head. Goldenboy do a great job in taking you on some highs and lows musically, blasting through the first half of the song before slowing things down and then building back up with more ace harmonies.
The third track on Adult Disorientated Rock is titled The Letter. The track begins with a slightly cheesy and cliché alarm clock buzzer before jumping into a verse about being woken up. Fifteen years ago I would have gotten quite the kick out of this but not so much now. Thankfully the rest of the song is great fast-paced pop punk. The penultimate song, Good Boy, is more of a mid-tempo track. Beginning with some soft female vocals before lead singer Torkel comes in. It's a sadder feeling song about getting older but still dealing with the demons you faced in your youth. Despite the slower pace, the song remains as catchy as ever. Last up is the four minute long Phonebox 84. The track does that lovely thing of having a slower verse but really exploding into life on the chorus. This helps add a lot of emphasis on the choruses as well as just making this final song feel huge in general. To add to the size of the sound, a violin is added to the ending of the song – obviously making you think of Yellowcard. It's a big way to end an impressive EP.
It's nice to hear Goldenboy music again. This was a nice walk back down memory lane for me. I rarely ever listen to this type of pop punk anymore but it's great to hear that there are still bands putting out high quality releases in the genre.
Stream and download Adult Disorientated Rock here: https://goldenboybergen.bandcamp.com/releases
Like Goldenboy here: http://facebook.com/goldenboybergen
This review was written by Colin Clark.
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