Goldfinger

Darrin’s Coconut Ass: Live from Omaha (Mojo)
by Scott Hefflon

This eight-song cover EP’s title is based on the drummer’s reputedly hairy butt, before you ask. Covering ska, reggae, New Wave, power pop, and classic freakin’ rock like it’s never been played before, Goldfinger are talented enough to pull off a tide-me-over release like this and make it worth it. Supposedly recorded “live in the studio” in one take after a kickin’ show in Omaha, there’s material here that makes the tired concept of punk bands covering other people’s songs fresh again. There’s a reason for each cover (noted in the booklet), and unlike the standard fare, you can actually hear what it is about each song that attracted ’em. While covering The Cure’s “Just like Heaven” “because it needed more distortion” is pretty simple, their reggae-with-metal-guitars treatment of Bad Company’s “Feel Like Making Love” really sheds new light on the song. You can tell the original greatly affected the band, and there’s been this nagging “I wanna take it, twist it around, bring a couple aspects to the forefront, add a couple juicy elements I hear in my head that aren’t there [insert sly, maniacal giggle here], and record the sucker for a whole new generation of kids who think Bad Company are some loser classic rock band for old farts” thing stuck in someone’s head for years, waiting to get out. Well, it’s out. And man, as an adamant Who-disliker (I had a roommate I didn’t like who played ’em to death), the fact that I’m bopping to their skapunked “The Kids are Alright” is amazing. I usually hate skapunk as well, so that’s quite a feat. There are covers of The Special’s “Nite Klub” which I don’t love (cuz I’ll listen to The Specials over any new ska band any day), and ditto with Peter Tosh’s “Downpressor Man” and The Police’s “Man in a Suitcase,” but some might like ’em just cuz they’re here… Joe Jackson’s “Is She Really Going Out with Him?” is a great, great song. They do it well, and it’s good to bring it back to light (not that Vagrant’s Before You Were Punk series hasn’t been accomplishing this feat anyway). And seeing as I somehow missed the Buzzcocks (don’t ask, just never got exposed to them until after I’d heard tons of Buzzcocks-derivative bands, then couldn’t listen to the originals without seeing it all backasswards – real shame, I know), “You Say You Don’t Love Me” rocks my dumb ass as pure and simply beautiful.

So there it is, some kinda obvious tips of the scull cap (or whatever those dorky, beret-looking things are called) to some of the greats of a couple genres that have direct bearing on Goldfinger’s upbringing and style, and a few unexpected treats that make this sucker more than just some cheap ploy to make a few bucks and generate interest for their next record.
(www.mojorecords.com)