The experimental Milwaukee group Golden Coins began offering its latest EP, Animal Variables, for free download this week, and it's one of the more unexpected releases I've heard in a while. It's a tough record to pigeonhole. Despite its wayward loops, toy instruments and NES-styled synthesizers, the EP never gives way to lo-fi kookiness. In spirit, if not execution, its fervid songwriting seems an extension of the rainy-day rock of Pacific Northwest bands like 794-Hero or Modest Mouse. Comparing an individual song to Low doesn't do justice to the brevity and caprice of the EP as a whole, but the album standout “(L)(CR)osses” does bring to mind the heaviest of the Duluth trio's hot-burning hymnals. And though the EP cover photo's similarity to Wye Oak's latest album art is probably coincidental, there is a similarity in the way the two acts revitalize '90s indie-rock sensibilities with fresh sounds and chancy arrangements. Highly recommended.
Animal Variables is available through Golden Coins' Bandcamp page. “(L)(CR)osses” is embedded below.
