Review: Cougar Gold




Cougar Gold
Archway (self-released)

If post-alterna-core were a genre—utilized by anyone other than music reviewers in desperate need of an adequate classification to catalog the very band they are trying to describe—Cougar Gold might be its standard bearer. Churning the waters of the Sparta/Jim Ward side of At the Drive-In as well as a bit of Hot Water Music and Mudhoney, the Denver trio plays powerful, persistent rock that’s either on the punk side of alternative or vice versa. The four songs presented here exhibit finely honed writing chops and a penchant for unleashing persuasive melodies that hum sweet nothings to listeners’ pop-sensibilities. “Elanors,” the EP’s shining moment, is filled with the sort of attributes characteristic of the group: pensive lyrics, hook-filled songcraft, and a brooding, determined verse followed by a bombastic, anthemic chorus. Archway is Cougar Gold’s second EP, overflowing with modicums of a formidable LP to come. 



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