Golden Triangle

Double Jointer (Hardly Art)

By Erin Wolf
Published: March 21st, 2010 | 1:00pm

Brooklyn sextet Golden Triangle isn’t about to redefine the present state of garage rock, but they’re certainly intent on stretching the boundaries as far as it gets them without totally falling off the genre’s map. Feeding off of the messy caterwauling of the Black Lips, the dense psychedelia of the Black Angels, the post-punk attitude of the Fall, and loads of Grrrl groups (including Sleater-Kinney and even twee-popsters, Cub), Golden Triangle treads the footsteps, but refuses to stay in one place too long.

The band’s debut full-length, Double Jointer, might also have Vivian Girls fans feeling either ecstatic or cheated for a nearly perfectly pulled-off cop of the doubled-up, chilly girl vocals of that trio—but it’s clear from the first track, “Cinco de Mayo,” that there’s a bit more fire than ice present. Vashti Windish and Carly Rabalais yelp their way into the album and make their dissonant harmonies the center of crashing tambourine, swaggering surfer rhythms, and the art-rock weirdness waged in O.J. San Felipe and Cameron Michel’s bendy and hollow guitar sounds. It’s a fascinating dirge that so obviously needs to be seen live to be appreciated fully, and Double Jointer is annoying in just that way—it’s a solid album, but it’s not a stage, which is what’s needed to kick these songs into the high gear they were meant to be in.

Although the band subscribes to the punk-rock adage of short and sweet on some songs, drawn out and crashing is what suits Golden Triangle best. Double Jointer’s highlights include the intense “The Melting Wall” and its equally meaty closer, “Arson Wells.” Two-minute pop works okay for some, but for Golden Triangle, loosening up and drawing it out would work in their favor.

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Hardly Art