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THE FUCKING AM, "GOLD"
Growing up in the suburbs of Toronto, there was a great collaboration in the early 80s between local prog-rock heroes Rush and Max Webster on the tune "Battlescar" that was, like, totally awesome for an impressionable rock radio pre-teen. Looking back, I don't think there's been many unique rock group pairings where both parties come through loud and clear without fighting for the spotlight as I would have imagined or care to remember. Over the years, most of the major label stuff always came across as either: a) a third party-penned tune recorded to benefit a worthy cause; b) a contractual and cheesy supergroup; or c) the obligatory tribute record, which is also usually a) and b).Drag City
Source material re-mixes were and still are the popular collaboration for a lot of electronic-based musicians, with artists sometimes never meeting in person. A couple of years back, west coast precision metal trio The Fucking Champs and D.C. futuristic rockers Trans Am decided to embrace the earlier days of the rock's upper echelon by recording under the name Trans Champs, releasing a great EP in which both groups complimented each other and maintained their own identities. This time around as The Fucking Am, Gold has them broadening their unique middle ground of crunchy guitars and tight drumming to some darker, heavier and at times playful places. "The Gauntlet" had me close to headbanging to its super-tight and processed drums, monstrous wall of heavy guitars and low end, at times thick enough to vibrate the nose hairs. Taking its title from the now famous Pete Townshend defense, the time-warped "Doing Research For An Autobiography" nearly left my jaw hanging as it shifted back and forth from twin guitar major key 70s blues/rock licks and double bassdrum-driven keyboard explorations that touch on the psychedelic. The laid back and loose jamming of "Elastico Gomez" takes the excitement level down a few notches only to have layering drones build up the tension to segue into the crunchy and controlled meedleying of "Electrico Gomez" to close things down. As one who prefers to think as having outgrown my stadium rock upbringing, Gold had me wanting to pump my fist in the air and revisit my inner-metalhead without an ounce of irony. 
