Part of the trick that bands in the so-called rock revival movement in the early ’00s faced was the balance of paying homage to the rock stylings of the ’60s and ’70s without being entirely beholden to them — i.e. writing covers in the guise of originals. The New York City outfit Blue & Gold can count itself as sonic kin of those rock revival groups, but fortunately it pulls off the aforementioned balance with ease. This young quartet writes the kind of rock ‘n’ roll that teenagers first discovering Led Zeppelin hope to write over a garage jam session: straight-to-the-point, catchy rock that knows its way around a good riff. Blue & Gold’s latest number, “Tommy Gun”, features solid guy/girl vocal interplay by vocalists/guitarists Alex Kapelman and Chloe Raynes.
Kapelman tells PopMatters about the song, “‘Tommy Gun’ was an idea I had for a while, but it didn’t really come alive until I brought it to the band and we gave it the Blue & Gold treatment. We notched up the energy, worked in the harmonies, and added a true rhythmic backbone to the track that helped to bring out the melody even more. We really worked as a team on this one, and I think it definitely shows.”
Blue & Gold’s self-titled LP is out on 13 January via ByrdHouse. You can pre-order “Tommy Gun” on iTunes at this link.