Goldfinger – Open Your Eyes

By paul

It’s been a strange last 12 months for Goldfinger. With guitarist Charlie Paulson gone and a UK tour with Reel Big Fish scrapped, things looked ominous. But a new guitarist was brought in and John and the rest of the gang got in the studio and came out with this – ‘Open Your Eyes‘.

Their fourth ‘proper’ studio album is just one of a number of highly anticipated new albums out this summer, but it’s unfortunately a bit of a letdown. Gone completely is the ska that perhaps the band are best known for – there’s certainly no ‘Superman’ here – infact there’s nothing remotely as good and whilst this record is certainly not a terrible listen it’s just such a jumbled hot-potch of sounds that it doesn’t really do the band justice. Tonight Matthew, Goldfinger are going to cover topics ranging from teen angst, Ted Nugent, their dads and then tracks with a more social edge. And not content with that the sound mixes from the basic pop-punk that littered the last album, to a nu-metal piss-take (‘Woodchuck’) to ripping off their mates in Mest. Add to that some really bad lyrics and you don’t have a good band’s best efforts.

The rip-roaring ‘Going Home’ is a fantastic opening to an album, with drums and guitars flying at you from all angles. It’s straight up pop-punk done very well and gets things going in fine style. ‘Spokesman’ follows up next – a vitriolic jibe at the music industry. MTV get a shoeing amongst others and it’s another decent track. First single ‘Open Your Eyes‘ has been all over the alternative music TV channels like a rash and is by far one of the better tracks. More of a social commentary than anything else here and accompanied by a decent video, it’s certainly going to make you sit-up and listen. Unlike ‘Decision’ which is bland and run-of-the-mill, coming across like Mest. And that is certainly not a good thing when you are as good as Goldfinger.

“Dad, I hate to tell ya, sometimes I want to slap you in the face.” Hmmm…hardly Ivor Novello winning lyrics are they? When you compare the likes of ‘Dad’ with ‘Open Your Eyes‘ there really is no comparison. This is third-rate pop pap and certainly not worthy of anything else other than the skip button. What’s most frustrating is that Goldfinger have done this song so many times before. It’s neither fresh, new or interesting. ‘Tell Me’ starts off very wishy-washy but improves. It’s still not as good as the likes of ‘Mable’, but it’s an improvement on the previous song. ‘Liar’ is short but most definitely sweet, although surely it would have been better had it been a bit longer.

“I wish I wasn’t such a wishy-washy prick,” John Feldman sings on ‘January’ and this could not be more apt on such a wishy-washy song. It really is bland and dull, not the Goldfinger that you’ve previously come to love. And the “January, February, March, April, May..” chorus is simply embarrassing. ‘Happy’ is better without being that brilliant – the “I just want to be happy” refrain however could really have come from any Papa Roach song. There’s temporary restbite with ‘Woodchuck’ (check out the Disturbed piss-take at the beginning), a short satirical look at nu-metal, but after a while this song, like this album, is going to become a bit dull. ‘It’s Your Life’ is ok, quite relaxed and a good singalong with the only hint of anything remotely like ska…and even then it’s only in the very distant background.

‘Spank Bank’ is pleasant enough, but certainly not a standout, whilst ‘Youth’ similarly seems to be restrained from the outset. Maybe it’s me but there seems to be a lack of urgency, bar a few songs, on this record. ‘Radio’ previously appeared on the ‘Stomping Ground’ 7″ I believe, and it’s a right royal singalong, and perhaps a saving grace from an album taking a nose dive into complete mediocricy. ‘FTN’ ends things in fine style. Otherwise known as ‘Fuck Ted Nugent’ it’s fast, furious and everything good about Goldfinger. It even takes the Michael out of Jennifer Lopez. But it does beg the question – where on Earth is this urgency and quality on the rest of the CD?

You get the impression that Goldfinger played ska when it was ‘big’ and that in following a trend they’ve ditched it in favour of pop-punk. Fans will no doubt slag me off and say they were always a pop-punk band, but I disagree. And anyway, when the end product is as bad and lame as some of the stuff here, it really makes you wonder why they bothered. Stick to what you’re best at is my advice.

‘Open Your Eyes‘ is a disappointment. There are too many fillers and some of the songs are particularly cringeworthy. So the big Goldfinger return turns out to be a bit of a turkey…go back and try harder next time guys…

Paul Savage

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