Adam Curley roars, as drummer Mark Hewitt thunders along in Furlong, the opening track from Gold Class’ debut. It’s a pacey start to an album, and a true indicator of the nine tracks that lay ahead. The second song, Life as a Gun, diligently carries the pace set by the opener (if not intensifying it), and is charged with tension right until it abruptly cuts off into immediate and definitive silence.
Later on, Michael bears a sad and ominous air. Curley starts by singing, “You give and you take, you take what you’re given/ They’re talking about the children you won’t have,” and towards the end cries out, “They call you Michael/ You are him/ And it all falls down/ When you don’t want it to.” It’s not clear who Michael is, or was, but that hardly matters given the concentration of emotion.
Many of the song titles are gritty and dark, with Bite Down and Perverts consuming the middle of the album, and Pro Crank and Shingles (Stay a While) filling the end. It seems that none of the songs or titles should be considered in isolation, which makes It’s You even more engrossing.
Curley’s vocal likeness to both Morrissey and Ian Curtis is probably a comparison he’ll grow weary of, but it makes for an amazing tribute and journey back to the formative days of English post-punk.
None of the songs on It’s You are particularly short, but you arrive at the end surprisingly quickly, hanging for more. The last track, Shingles (Stay a While) is the slowest and gentlest track on the album, and this point of difference serves up a surprise just before the show’s over.
BY IZZY TOLHURST
