Style + Subtance = Dancing Beats
For some bands the music literally plays second fiddle to their style, so consumed by the need to carry off the cool latest new trend, they just end up looking like everyone else and sounding like yesterday’s rejects. Some bands though manage to marry style with substance, doing it with an effortless ease that leaves the rest of us green with envy as you start to realise they aren’t even trying, its just natural talent. Rosie And The Goldbug are one such band. Boasting promo pics that depict a trio of eccentric hipsters that neatly tie an electro glam look with a rock attitude by the bucket load, your honest instant thought is that the music has been brushed aside to pay for the stylist. Oh how wrong you can be. Kooky with a fistful of attitude to punch all the doubters powerfully in the mouth, Rosie And The Goldbug are a female fronted trio that have the balls to strut their stuff, oozing a confident attitude that will knock you to the floor, pick you up and dust you off before doing it all again.
Taking some of Blondie’s New Wave style, lacing it with lethal dose of electro pop that is kept happily in check with some punk attitude, Rosie And The Goldbug have proceeded to sneak in and steal some Kate Bush-esque vocals to give their sound that engagingly eccentric oomph before raiding the sequin and glitter drawers to polish it all off with sparkling splendour. Latest single, ‘Lover’ is first out of the starting blocks, terrorising with an ominous bass line that steadily picks up the pace as an incessant drum beat mingles with Rosie’s soft, delicate vocals that go from tender to hard hitting within a blink of an eye. Energetically infectious, ‘Lover’ sets the tone for the band’s self titled debut as ‘War of The Roses (Because You Said So)’ offloads some venom tinged vocals mingled with some supercharged beats that transform with electro grace for the glam dance buzz of ‘Heartbreak’ complete with a burst of operatic striving vocals to give it just that extra little slice of eclectic eccentricity. From this there’s the Gwen Steffani bout of anger drenched attitude courtesy of ‘Contain You’ that makes way only for some Kate Bush meets Tori Amos vocals of ‘Strange Girl’ that struts with a tightly concise rhythm section that indeed refuses to miss a step throughout the album, continuously brimming with brilliance to ensure Rosie And The Goldbugs shine with ease.
Having taken their name from Edgar Allen Poe, the Cornwall trio bring a sufficient amount of dramatic darkness to the table that is brilliantly sprinkled with some glamour before getting strapped to pure rock that relentlessly swaggers like a rebel in search of a fight. Ticking the style boxes in time with the music ones, this is a trio for which both go hand in hand, refusing to compromise on either, a refreshingly unique notion surely?