Superstitions can offer a variety of treatments for people who suffer from debilitating headaches. These include wrapping the skin of a snake or a hangman’s rope around the temples, holding tightly onto some scraped horseradish and pressing one’s thumb against the roof of one’s mouth.David Pickering, Dictionary of Superstitions (Cassell: 1995)
Look. Listen. October is a time of deep superstition, and the good and wicked alike begin strapping on their armor. The long frosted night is clutching its cold hammer and the bloom of the summer rose is as faded as the echo in a cracked sea shell…But wait! Don’t get weird and squirrelly. There are simpler, less-rarified remedies for this than the snake or rope—or at least ones that can be practiced publicly without fear of strange and vicious reprisals.
Tuesday October 27 dawns at Fortune Sound Club with three Vancouver bands, No Gold, Basketball and Humans, ripping holes in the darkness for No Gold’s first official (and long awaited) release, a 7” single, The Broadway to Boundary. And just as there are many superstitions, many ills, and many cures, there are many serious reasons to go and hear No Gold. Yes! To Go. To Hear. To Dance. But capturing this trio with pure reason is akin to standing around with one’s thumb pressed to the roof of one’s mouth while everyone else is snorting dried moss cultured on a human skull. Strange and unnecessary. So. Let’s get down to it, shall we?
You really just want to know what makes this band at this club on this night worth venturing out for. Right? Well, quite simply, No Gold is something like inflating your tires to 75 psi (respect: Hunter S. Thompson) and carving a sharp curve through a mountain pass. Like jabbering insults at a loan shark. Like getting all AC/DC with an electric eel. Like having the last fistful of dollars at the last gin joint on earth. Dangerous but thrilling. And this is good. No Gold strings out jacked up beats, oscillating bass lines, and frantic guitar, each of which is impossible to deny. They are a swirling blur of sound, charged and breathless. I mean it: your synapses will crackle. Your muscles will jerk. You will smile. People will smile at you. Drinks will taste better. The clocks will melt. Ah! Vancouver will be awesome and an October night will ring truly better and more startlingly than ever.
So. The message is clear: get after it, because no one should go gently on a week night, especially when there is so much to enjoy. And, after all, fine electrified music soothes the temples every time.
-Matt Turner
Free mp3: No Gold - Hot Bay
