Golden Suits
Golden Suits
Yep Roc Records [2013]
Fire Note Says: Take a nice psych/folk pop trip with Fred Nicolaus and his new project Golden Suits.
Album Review: There is a lot to like about Fred Nicolaus and his new project Golden Suits. For those who don’t know, Nicolaus is half of the driving force behind Department of Eagles, a band which is often just thought of as a Grizzly Bear side project. To think of that band in that particular way is a mistake, and by doing so, it would be easy to dismiss Golden Suits as a side project of a side project, and that misses the whole point. Golden Suits is chock full of interesting rhythms to go along with the gorgeous laid back pop melodies on the album.
“Swimming in ‘99” is everything that is great about this album encapsulated in one song. It has cool instrumentation, a steady beat, and a great vocal melody. “I Think You Would Have Been Mine” is also another standout on the record. It’s ethereal pop, dreamlike, with instruments floating in and out, all the while gently floating forward as if on a cloud. “Dearly Beloved” is another standout track, it slowly builds upon itself, layers are constantly added, it reaches its peak and then slowly melts away into the ether. It’s a nice finish to the album.
My main issue with the album is that it never really shifts gears at all. It settles into a nice mellow folk pop groove and doesn’t go anywhere else. It makes it a bit hard to digest the whole album in one sitting, I found myself wandering away from it. It was when I broke the album up into smaller digestible pieces that it really started to open itself up to me. Every song is pretty good, but it just didn’t quite get up to that next level for me which would have been a 3 ½ or a 4. By no means is this a bad record though, fans of Department of Eagles should definitely look into this one!
Key Tracks: “Swimming In ‘99”, “Wash it Away”, “Dearly Beloved”
Artists With Similar Fire: Grizzly Bear / Dodos / Atlas Sound
Golden Suits Website
Golden Suits Facebook
Yep Roc Records
– Reviewed by Kevin Poindexter
Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, I am extremely proud of the area I grew up in and the influence it has had on the world at large, from the Wright Brothers to Robert Pollard, the area has been a center of innovation both technologically and artistically. During my college years at the University of Dayton, I found myself becoming more and more immersed in the local music scene, a period of time in the early to mid 90's that coincided with the rise of bands like Guided by Voices, Brainiac, and The Breeders, who added to the rich musical legacy of the area. Dayton is also the hometown of many giants of funk in the 70's and is also the birthplace of Jazz greats Billy Strayhorn, John Scofield and Bud Shank. I wrote extensively for The Fire Note, a great online magazine focused on indie rock, in the 2010's while simultaneously being a partner in Rockathon Records, before retiring from both in 2018. In 2024, my thoughts turned back to helping at Rockathon and more importantly to pick back up on my writing, and more specifically to write about my love of jazz. I'm always listening, always searching for something new, something great. It's been a lifelong journey, and I still feel like there is so much out there to hear.
- Kevin Poindexterhttps://thefirenote.com/author/kpoindexter/
- Kevin Poindexterhttps://thefirenote.com/author/kpoindexter/
- Kevin Poindexterhttps://thefirenote.com/author/kpoindexter/
- Kevin Poindexterhttps://thefirenote.com/author/kpoindexter/
