Solid Gold w/ Mystery Palace at The Varsity Theater on 11/7/08

By: Pat O'Brien

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James Buckley of Mystery Palace - Photo by David de Young

For years there has been an anti-electronic movement regarding music. There have been (and most likely always will be) people adamantly opposed to music created by or supplemented with what they derisively refer to as “machines”. I myself have always found this a little silly since amplifiers, microphones, etc. all qualify as machines as well, but the knock is directed at samplers, digital manipulation and, most specifically, keyboards. It’s viewed as cheap and disingenuous - pandering to the audience. If any naysayers were in the Varsity crowd on Friday for Mystery Palace, I’m sure a few of them would have changed their minds.

There was no argument as to just how electronic Mystery Palace sounded. What was immediately interesting about them, however, was the fact that they were playing with live instruments, aside from Ryan Olcott’s circuit-bent Yamaha keyboard. I didn’t have a perfect view of the stage, but drummer Joey Van Phillips didn’t appear to have any drum pads, it appeared to be heavily digitized, distorted live drums. The same went for James Buckley’s heart surgeon-precise, growling bass. Buckley has some experience in this arena having been in the now-defunct live drum n’ bass trio Poor Line Condition, who were maybe just a few years ahead of themselves. Getting together a bunch of effects equipment and generating music that sounds similar to Boards of Canada seems like a fairly easy task for almost anyone, given enough time, but doing it with live instruments and sounding just as good or sometimes better than BOC and their brethren (it’s more danceable and not nearly as drone-y)  is quite a feat. Mystery Palace is a little more special than maybe even they are aware of.

Solid Gold has simultaneously flown under the radar and gathered a large following in the past several months, it seems. “Get Over It” The single from their new album, Bodies of Water has been getting local airplay, and everything seems to be falling into place for them quickly. The Varsity was more packed than for some national acts I have seen there.  I was impressed. I have been drawn to their new disc over and over again lately and I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what it was until about halfway through their set: They are a band on a very short, distinguished list, they make synth-heavy music that ultimately sounds human and frail. Make no mistake it sounds electronic but it also sounds damaged and hurt. Too many bands with a synth-infused sound in addition to live instruments let the keyboard do all of the heavy lifting - it drives the songs instead of pushing them. Solid Gold allows the keyboard to do the latter and is stronger for it. The songs are never overwhelmed and recall the heyday of Roxy Music instead of the last days of Thompson Twins, you know, sounding epic in just two and a half minutes, instead of excruciatingly, mind-numbingly long at three and a half.

Solid Gold - Photo by de Young

It’s also a relief that these guys don’t bother to dress the part, or any part really. They look more like a classic rock band than extras from some terrible, early-’80s, post-apocalyptic made-for-TV movie. There’s no pretension there, they seem to have no preconceived notions about anything and it was a real treat to see a band genuinely surprised and touched by the crowd turnout (especially give the very-late 11PM doors.) I often hear talk about “Who is going to be the next Tapes ‘n Tapes?”, meaning “Who will be the next local act to go national?” but I rarely have heard Solid Gold’s name mentioned. I, for one, think they should be near the top of the list. They have a deceptively simple, immensely enjoyable sound that can make even the too-cool scenesters dance around, and that says quite a bit. Nothing needs work, there are no weak spots - I think they’re ready to be shipped out as soon as they’re needed. 

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Location Info: The Varsity Theater
Artist Info: Mystery Palace, Solid Gold

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