Goldheart Assembly Archive

Goldheart Assembly roughing around England, being sharpened to a shine More

Written By Michael Wood Saturday, June 6th, 2009

Goldheart Assembly at The Live Lounge, Blackburn

Each member of five piece Goldheart Assembly look as if they have dropped out of being the coolest dressed man of a specific time period other than a quiet Saturday night in Blackburn. They sound out of time too too mixing a bit of pure pop with some Seventies Americana but this is Lancashire on a weekend night, Oasis are playing in a massive field twenty minutes down the road and the audience at the excellent newly opened Live Lounge is sparse.

Goldheart Assembly are "London's Fleet Foxes" of course because anyone who strums an acoustic is the Fleet Foxes of somewhere but the band wear the comparison well and march through the opening numbers impressively building a big sound, loud and whittled from stone.

They weave narratives through their songs in the finest traditions of storytelling bands and the collection of touchstones like Fleet Foxes and Big Star are valid. R.E.M. circa Reckoning might be another.

Goldheart Assembly live in Blackburn

The locals are impressed proclaiming them the best band to have played a Blackburn pub for some time – makes a break from counting holes one supposes - and Goldheart Assembly kick up a notch with the more up tempo Row Sixteen. They show an impressive range of work – perhaps a result of being in essence two rival bands who merged. Perhaps that is why Blackburn and A Day In The Life seem fitting.

The old Americana is punctured by a high Cockney accent and more echo is added to vocal which is already the rich sound is so drenched in reverb. They sound best when harmonising and which is not the case on Oh Really! Which is not their best but is catchy recalling The Animals. It is 79p - we are told - and buying it will enable them to fill the tour bus for tomorrow's trip to Middlesbrough. From Whitehaven to Blackburn to Middlesbrough the band are paying dues in the provinces, sharpening a style which will stand them in good stead.

They finish with a slice of sixties pop that you know to dance to but struggle to recall a name for but not after taking a request from "anyone who has come down just to see us" and the request is for single So Long, St Christopher which is a gem rough around the edges but pure and heartfelt and enthralling at the core.

It encapsulates the band.

This post is about

    • Realism by The Magnetic Fields
    • If You're Feeling Sinister by Belle & Sebastian
    • Dear Catastrophe Waitress by Belle & Sebastian
    • Contra by Vampire Weekend
    • Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles
    • Codeine Velvet Club by Codeine Velvet Club
    • The Boy With the Arab Strap by Belle & Sebastian
    • My Maudlin Career by Camera Obscura
    • Black Sheep Boy by Okkervil River
    • Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant by Belle & Sebastian
    • Neon Bible by Arcade Fire
    • White Blood Cells by The White Stripes
    • Live in Leeds by The Wedding Present
    • Seamonsters by The Wedding Present
    • Funeral by Arcade Fire
    • Night Falls Over Kortedala by Jens Lekman
    • This Hungry Life by Tanya Donelly
    • Divided by Theoretical Girl
    • Torino by Cinerama
    • Years Of Refusal by Morrissey
    • Little Death by Pete and The Pirates
    • Lesser Matters by The Radio Dept.
    • Blue Roses by Blue Roses
    • It's Blitz! by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
    • Pet Grief by The Radio Dept.
    • Nests by She Keeps Bees
    • Field Music by Field Music
    • Discography: The Complete Singles Collection by Pet Shop Boys
    • Drastic Fantastic by KT Tunstall
    • Show Your Bones by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
    • Our Earthly Pleasures by Maxïmo Park
    • A Certain Trigger by Maxïmo Park
    • Tones Of Town by Field Music
    • Superabundance by The Young Knives
    • Another City, Another Sorry by The Answering Machine
    • Confessions on a Dance Floor by Madonna
    • Forty Licks Disc 1 by The Rolling Stones
    • Scissor Sisters by Scissor Sisters
    • Fight Like Apes and the Mystery of the Golden Medallion by Fight Like Apes
    • Codeine Velvet Club by Codeine Velvet Club