Their sound is a collage of the spirit of Southern boogie, the grandiose flourishes of ‘70’s-era The Who, the lilting bounce of contemporary indie pop, and the confessional simplicity of the best country songwriters. It’s quite a balance to maintain, and clearly some songs arrange these ingredients in different proportions; but this stylistic blend is what makes Golden Bear one of the most distinctive bands on the Austin scene.
Having just finished up the final mixes for their upcoming debut full-length, Golden Bear appears poised for a potential breakout from Austin over the course of the next year. Every track on the record includes several featured musicians, including members of notable Austin bands such as Voxtrot, The Black Angels, and Tia Carrera. All of this help makes for instrumental arrangements that previous recordings only hinted at; xylophone, lap steel, trumpet, tuba, pedal steel, and more all play significant roles on at least one track. The band is free with their traditional rock instrumentation as well, including as many as four guitars on some tracks, several harmonizing vocalists, or extra percussion. The result of all of this is an exultant pop sound seemingly too big for a debut record.
Although playing live relatively infrequently recently in order to focus on finishing up the record, Golden Bear should be back on stage again in the coming months and is a charismatic performance not to be missed.
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