Golden Triangle, Double Jointer

Golden Triangle borrows its sound from the White Stripes, crossed with a bit of that wall-of-sound feel of Sonic Youth. On Double Jointer, their debut, the band thrashes along at garage-punk tempos, but the vocals are woozy-sounding, sort of like Janet Bean if she’d been drinking. The band chimes more than real punk rock does but are still driving and aggressive. The twin female lead vocals are ghostly and distant, yet still energetic and demanding. All in all, it sounds like an odd combination, but Golden Triangle makes it work.

Their songs are fiery and catchy, and just anthemic enough. “Blood and Arrow” has a cool droning, chromatic riff, with unison vocals on the verses contrasting with conversational vocals on the chorus and an anthemic melody. “I Want to Know” is a blitzkrieg, starting with SY sounds and moving into a more straightfoward song, with a Ramones-esque vocal line and an epic guitar solo. The band’s sound also makes the melodies stand out more — because the band has an odd quality to it, it lets the melodies be extra catchy without sounding hammy and overdone.

They also pay attention to the sonic colors — not for nothing are both guitar players also credited with “FX.” Some songs sound like a normal band would, while others use counterintuitive choices, like on “Blood and Arrow,” where the guitar chords sound like dirt if you amplified it. The intro on “I Want to Know” sounds like noise more than a riff. And on “Jellyroll,” the guitars move between woozy and biting, and the band runs the piano through the same effects to give it the least natural sound on the song. But they play it straight part of the time, too; they like guitar solos that are technically involved, like the epic two-minute guitar solo on “Orson Wells,” where they show what they could be doing if they had a little less imagination.

These guys can do it all, from raw rave-ups like “Cinco de Mayo” to slow (or relatively slow, anyway) ballads like “Death to Fame” to anthemic rousers like “I Want to Know” and “Blood and Arrow.” They take a wide range of styles and make them all work, and work well. Considering the band’s mastery of melody, riff, and instrumental color, they come across like a more contemporary My Bloody Valentine. Or, really, My Bloody Valentine’s little sisters.

Feature photo by Todd Fisher.