Goldfinger – Hello Destiny

There’s a new trend hitting the punk scene and the trend is simple: going back to your roots. Bands left, right and centre are proudly proclaiming that on their next release they’re going to go back to their old style and write a record just like they would’ve when they first started. Bands like Thursday, My Chemical Romance, Green Day and more have all proclaimed their intention to return to their roots; as didGoldfinger. Free of their major label, the So-Cal ska punks joined indie powerhouse SideOneDummy to release Hello Destiny an album in which they promised to return to their self-titled era style; they even re-united with their original guitarist Charlie Paulson for the first time in years and for the most part, John Feldmann and company were able to fulfill their promise.

Hello Destiny starts off with four of the strongest Goldfinger songs in years, it makes you able to forget the dismal Disconnection Notice. Out of the four, Get Up is the only one laced with a tinge of ska through the use of horns, woahs and a great upstroke two-tone melody while the remaining three are great pop-punk songs that do remind me of the band’s self-titled era. Unlike Disconnection Notice andOpen Your Eyes, Hello Destiny has a rawer sound, less polished and produced. There’s some graininess in the guitar tone, Feldmann’s vocals are strong and angry, the drumming is fast like No Use For A Name while the song as a whole is incredibly catchy.

From there the band goes on a slight deviation. The Only One is a full blown reggae tune that stands out comparatively to the opening four cuts but still fits the album’s flow. It lets the record slow down a bit while still being able to excite the listener. War, however, isn’t able to capture the listener’s attention as much. This song fits more in the Disconnection Notice pile as it’s good but a little too smooth and overly produced. It sounds like Mest and other than the gang vocal verse, War is missing the punch that filled the opening half of the record.

Lucky for us, Goldfinger picks up the pace with How Do You Do It, the second shortest song on the album that relives the band’s lovelorn days of yore. It throws the album back on a the right pace and they stay there until the final few tracks of the album. It is there that the band’s leaves behind their promise of returning to their roots and hinders the album. On Handjobs For Jesus, Goldfinger attacks religion and while I don’t object to the subject matter like some people may, I object to the song itself.

The song sounds as if Feldmann is having an identity crisis. It starts off well enough but then he suddenly thinks he’s back in the studio with The Used with screams akin to Bert McCracken (well, I guess Bert McCracken is actually the one who does the screaming) and guitar work that feels way too forced and metallic. The female vocals supplied by Save Ferris‘ Monique Powell in one chorus helps but just minimally before they explode into a full screamo vibe. It just sounds so inexplicably out of place. Then, out of nowhere, the final forty seconds of the sound turns into a country/gospel choir ending with a McCracken scream and whisper like the intro to I’m A Fake and you’re left scratching your head. On Free Kevin Jonas, Goldfinger return to their Open Your Eyes stage as they sing about releasing animal activist Kevin Jonas. It’s not a bad song per say but rather repetitive and leaves me thinking that if I want to hear song about a guy called Jonas, I’d listen to Weezer‘s My Name Is Jonas.

The, Hello Destiny ends with hidden bonus song called Julian, an acoustic homage to Feldmann’s son which just doesn’t fit in the record. While it’s obvious why a father would want to put the song on his record, it’s overly produced, too slow and Feldmann’s vocals are unable to reach the falsetto note that he tries to and the record ends on a slightly sour note because of it. Luckily, they were smart enough to end the record off with a smile as they squeak out the famed line from Mable: that looks like a tube of cookie dough in the closing seconds of the track.

Nevetheless, ignoring the few bumbs at the end, Hello Destiny is a solid output from Goldfinger. It’s definitely strong enough to revive their career as old fans will be able to reminisce as they sing along with the record, you just may find yourself pressing the stop button a few songs before the end of the record.