Album review: Black Gold - 'Rush' (Red Bull)

Clearly craving BIG RADIO HITS, Brooklyn dreamers Black Gold are the kind of cannon fodder that keep Panic! At The Disco in business. Shame for them, then, that much of ‘Rush’ is instantly forgettable. The problem is that they simply know too much. Every vocal has been sculpted to the point of painful perfection, each drum pattern beaten out with soul-sucking surgical precision. If construction was king then ‘Rush’ would get 10, for sure. True, there’s a plastic charm to ‘Canyon’ and the Ryan Adams-aping ‘Shine’, and there are undoubtedly fleeting moments of joy to be found (the rousing percussion-led chorus in ‘Idols’ is a fine case in point), but ultimately, ‘Rush’ is swimming – and sinking – in a sea of mediocrity.

Matt Wilkinson 

5 out of 10