Having evolved from a sometime side project, the Golden Smog seem ready to assume the mantle of a fully committed super group now that they’re apparently back in a groove with two new releases within a matter of months. While their last album, the sumptuous Another Fine Day, was eight years in coming, its follow-up, Blood On The Slacks, provides a relatively quick comeback. With eight tracks, including a couple of outtakes, it can’t be considered a new album, but it does offer more material than an EP, and despite the obvious playfulness of the title, these are mostly solid selections at that. Golden Smog’s music has always reflected its members love of classic rock and here too, the retro references are abundant, in both their choice of covers - a near note-for-note retooling of David Bowie’s “Starman” and a mellow stroll through Dinosaur Jr.’s “Tarpit” - and, more significantly, in their own originals. “Can’t Even Tie Your Own Shoes,” “Scotch On Ice” and “Without A Struggle” sound like lost, obscure classics, each a casual, unassuming, ragtag romp that could have flowed from the pens of say, Ronnie Lane or Dave Davies, both of whom were sourced on the group’s previous albums. So does this signal that they’re here to stay? Truth is, continuity has always been a somewhat hazy element in Golden Smog’s trajectory. Still, if nothing else, Blood On The Slacks provides its own indelible impression.
~ Lee Zimmerman
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