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Such Gold (melodic hardcore/pop-punk)


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So there's this band that has been around for a few years now, and I've always thought that they've been overlooked since their inception. They may kind of be over now, as their drummer (who was fantastic) and one other member have left since the release of their first LP.


 


But, the two EPs (Stand Tall and Pedestals) they put out before their LP (Misadventures), form a sort of "trilogy" of fantastic music.


 


This band kind of veers between melodic hardcore, skate punk, and pop-punk. They had a fantastic drummer who came up with tons of cool beats using the hi-hat and ride bell, great guitar riffs, and their singer Ben had a very unique voice that could easily switch between screams and straight tone. Here's one of their earliest, more up-beat songs.


 


>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcYSA5nQbbE


 


Like I said, I'm not really sure what kind of future this band has due to member changes, but what they've put out...is phenomenal.


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Haha...I really, really like the stuff they've put out. Misadventures, their newest full release (I think they did a split recently) was great IMO. I have no idea why a band like this gets significantly smaller recognition than say, The Story So Far. Maybe it's because that band kind of sucks, and this one is pretty good. That seems to be how things work sometimes.


 


Perhaps I'm in the minority though, and most people think this band sucks. Maybe anything that even remotely sounds hardcore is unpopular because that scene has been suffering since Have Heart broke up. I don't know.


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the hardcore scene went on really strong until about the end of 2011. such gold was a part of the lame new pop punk scene that followed it and died just as fast, IMO. they were equally as popular as bands like the story so far. and by popular, i mean these bands could fill small 300 person capacity venues, but thats about it. i'm very surprised that some of these groups are still around. that goes for both late 2000s hardcore and pop punk.


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Haha...I really, really like the stuff they've put out. Misadventures, their newest full release (I think they did a split recently) was great IMO. I have no idea why a band like this gets significantly smaller recognition than say, The Story So Far. Maybe it's because that band kind of sucks, and this one is pretty good. That seems to be how things work sometimes.

 

Perhaps I'm in the minority though, and most people think this band sucks. Maybe anything that even remotely sounds hardcore is unpopular because that scene has been suffering since Have Heart broke up. I don't know.

The Story so Far pisses all over Such Gold.

TSSF are a lot bigger than people think as well.

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First of all, most of their songs are NOT pop-punk. There is nothing "pop" about most of their songs. There is far too much complexity and rapid changes in the riffs and drums for them to be considered pop in my opinion. None of the songs rely on a catchy chorus either.


 


The Story So Far, on the other hand, is a pop-punk band. There is a combination of punk and pop elements in those songs, but it certainly leads more towards pop...


 


- The band writes catchy choruses usually repeated three times within a song.


- They also almost always use clean vocals


- Drummer rarely puts his snares on the ands (upbeat focused songs have been a characteristic of punk music since Minor Threat and Black Flag)


- Songs usually stay below 150 bpm


- Boring lyrics and subject matter seen in mainstream music (relationship with girl, never presented in any sort of new or interesting way)


 


I have no idea how anyone could say that TSSF "pisses all over" Such Gold. It's fine if you like them more, but to deny the songwriting and skill in the musicianship completely seems very brash to me.


 


Also, the "new wave" of pop-punk bands is really just a bunch of bands trying to mix clean vocals with hardcore elements, or, in other words, trying to be Set Your Goals. It mostly didn't work, that's why it ended so quickly. I still think there's potential there...a sort of "skatecore" (although that's a terrible name), however SYG seems to be the only band to really nail that for me. Or you know, Such Gold.


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You can have pop qualities without any of that, none of that makes a pop-punk band. Some of the best pop-punk bands (i.e. Ramones, Screeching Weasel, Queers, MTX, Vindictives, Blink-182, Green Day, NoFX, Teenage Bottle Rocket, Lillingtons and on and on) hardly use any of those qualities. Yes, those are all pop-punk bands they all have defining pop-sensabilites and aesthetics in their music.


 


I'm not talking shit either, I mean to each their own when it comes to music. I come from more of the originators of the pop-punk genre (like the ones I listed above) I've always played in that specific genre with bands I've had, that's just my experience. It's because of that I don't see what you guys qualify as pop-punk as actual pop-punk. It was always fast, catchy and simple, that's what made it pop-punk; most songs weren't political in nature, they were more of a autobiography of insecurity and maladjusted youth. I don't see that a lot in the new age pop-punk but that's just me, I think it's more of a relation on my part than anything.


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Well, of course. I didn't say "here are 5 characteristics that every pop-punk band in the history of music must display to be part of the genre".


 


Those are simply things that TSSF has that make me consider them a pop-punk band that lean towards pop.


 


Also, I have no idea how NOFX is a pop-punk band. I feel like people just say that because they sold records. A band who's biggest songs are about how shitty the president is, and who has released albums called "S&M Airlines" and "Heavy Petting Zoo" are NOT pop or radio-friendly in any way.


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Such Gold are certainly more pop punk than they are hardcore. they are a bad combination of both dead genres, which is why i can't get into them.


 


When i was in high school, bands like Native were awesome because hardcore was well on its way out and they were among a solid group of bands who provided something familiar, yet they didn't really identify with the old scene at all. Such Gold is one of many bands that went completely backwards in time and made something stale IMO.


 


I think Native might be done now, but give them a listen. maybe you'll be into it.


 


>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_vsYbX70s8


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  • 2 months later...

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBv8OdmrkS8

 

Oh come on, their new album is around the corner and I can't believe no one else thinks this stuff is amazing. So many great lines in this new one. Not to mention it's a perfect example of them blending hardcore elements with these odd, almost math rock guitar riffs. But it's really the writing that gets me with this song in particular, Ben is very real and unfiltered. The whole "cab fare" idea is great, and it gives the image of of a frustrated twenty-something living in New York City. And I'm pretty sure the outro riff is supposed to sound like sleep, and it works.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 8 months later...

This pro-shot vid came out about a month ago. I still think they are the best modern punk band, the song selection for this set is ace and really showcases their discography.


 


Ben's voice is shot to hell, you can really hear it when he talks (hard to believe that they're probably at the end of the touring cycle for this album), but he still does a decent enough job and the rest of the band is as stellar as ever.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oburDsIzrTU


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