Baroness, Gold & Grey

Baroness, Gold & Grey, John Fisher, July 12, 2019

I sense some Gang Starr mass appeal here. Baroness is heavy enough for the metal crowd, poppy enough for the mainstream crowd, and they have the songwriting chops that’ll attract the rock crowd (90s grunge had some of the very best songwriting). First thought…I dig this new drummer’s style. Apparently, vocalist John Dyer Baizley is the only remaining founding member, almost died in a tour van accident, puts out some impressive album cover art, and was seemingly one of the nicest dudes based off his comments in between live songs a couple months ago in Berkeley. Good for him. One night I couldn’t sleep again, and put on Late Night w Seth Meyers, and the Baroness drummer was filling in for guest chops that night, like right around the time I was getting ready for the March show. I remember before they announced who he was, I was thinking damn this guy is pretty good. Baroness songs have a tendency to stick in my head, with lyrical parts like you tucked your fingers away in “Seasons,” or that first transition into I’ve got an artificial heart in “Tourniquet.” My impression of Baroness has always been as that solid, approachable metal or rock band depending on where you classify them, mixing the crusty and melodic guitars with the vocalist who matches the band’s style perfectly, and sticky songs with recognizable chorus sections. I saw them live back in March with Deafheaven up in Berkeley and they put on an outstanding live performance. One thing that stuck with me though was when I overheard this dude behind me wearing a Crass denim jacket saying to his friend next to him, “dude if your Mom was here, she would be dancing to this.” I guess that sums up Baroness pretty well. They could probably easily fill a concert bill with Deafheaven, Meshuggah, Thrice, Pennywise, Between the Buried and Me, No Doubt and The Smashing Pumpkins and find appreciative fans. It is a good complete album, and deserves a monthly selection, but at this point after listening for a month, I can’t imagine it winning album of the year for me. But daaammmnnn, Broken Halo is a really good song. The search continues…

As for me, holy shit last week was heavy. Ever since July 3rd, I was thinking I might be out of a job. Today on July 12th one of the 2 big deals I have been working with finally came through after about 7 months. Man, I don’t know how much longer I can deal with the ups and downs of sales. I think it’s a young man’s game… but, I’m still here…fighting!

Seriously if you are reading this, thank you and good luck to you on this weird little existence we have for such a short time. It’s quite an adventure I will say.

Pat Fisher1 Comment