UK Gold – Epigram No. 2 LP

UK Gold is a characteristic post-punk trio originating from Olympia, Washington. After nearly an hour lurking through the darkest depths of Google search, I’ve found almost nothing about this group, except the bandmembers were previously involved in bands such as The Maxines, Wisdom Teeth, and Pitted Youth. UK Gold roams local pubs and venues for a while, and so far, they’ve published a debut 7” record that includes four appealing post-punk compositions. The trio keeps things as minimal as possible, solely focus on the sound, minimalistic approach, and sometimes unusual aesthetics for post-punk music.

Epigram No. 2 is a debut full-length album by this interesting trio. It comprises of a dozen remarkably unique compositions, which dominantly emits some post-punk aesthetics, but also gradually unveils more than meets the eye. UK Gold aims for the true essence of post-punk sound by providing an in-depth examination of the genre but also includes aesthetics of art-punk, punk rock, noise rock, and no wave. The rhythmical structures drive in a classic eighties manner, with rhythms commonly performed over the toms to achieve a bit more power. The hi-hats and the rest of the cymbals mainly serve to accentuate certain moments, with the same logic commonly used in jazz music. The basslines are equally present as guitars, and these low-end tones saturate the complete atmosphere with slightly distorted delicacies. The bass guitar perfectly matches to the mentioned tom ridden rhythms. Therefore, the entire rhythm section matches to maniacal guitar experimentations with compactness, precision, and dynamics.

The guitars experiment with a broad array of unique technics that resemble the sound hearable in the vast majority of renowned noise rock, post-punk, and art-punk groups. Noise rock experimentations are widely present through shredded riffages, technically demanding harmonizations, jazzy scales, and other similar segments. These orchestrations are stacked with art-punk accentuations, subtly dosed not to spoil all the fun. Still, UK Gold appears as a precise post-punk band that takes the best of both worlds. The trio includes the eighties post-punk sound, layered with some contemporary trends that are enhanced by a marvelous production.

Epigram No.2 resembles the sound of Gang Of Four, Big Black, Sonic Youth, Wire, Devo, Talking Heads, No Means No, and others who mixed mentioned genres into a giant slab of precisely orchestrated noise. The album comes on standard black vinyl, but it is also available in a bundle with a shirt. Head over to the UK Gold Bandcamp page and grab a copy directly from the band.