Gilded Echoes is an album of unadulterated, barreling rock with good feels, fiery grooves, memorable riffs, and a whole lot of attitude from Silver Dollar Room.
Scottish five-piece rock outfit Gilded Echoes may be a relatively fresh face, but that does not translate at all in their confidence and presence. After a successful run of 3 singles prior to their big album release, a run that gained the group considerable traction and attention, the group’s album Gilded Echoes is finally here. Gilded Echoes is a collection of songs that highlight the band’s distinctive style quite well. To my ears bridging a gap between Grunge and britpop, with hints of really early Radiohead, and 90s alternative rock in general, it suffices to say that Silver Dollar Room have a sound that easily sticks.
The five-piece are fronted by John Keenan’s distinctive, heartful yells, backed by an ensemble of Jamie Turnbull’s and Dan Colvin’s guitar, Lisa Aird’s bass, and Douglas McDonald’s barreling grooves. A group of established musicians in their local Edinburgh scene, there is no shortage of musicianship on Gilded Echoes. Whether on rock rumbles like the starter ‘Origins’, featuring one of the album’s most memorable riffs and generally one of the album’s punchiest cuts, and a perfect introduction, or the melodic and metal-inspired ‘Individuality’, or on gentler cuts such as previously-released single ‘Mantle’, one of the album’s softest ballads, or ‘Better Company’, the song that really nails that Pablo Honey vibe, Silver Dollar Room are rolling with a plentiful roster of musical ideas. Gilded Echoes is a cohesive listen with a litany of different styles.
‘Weaponised’ is among the album’s most memorable efforts. With its mystical verse progression, intoxicating words and sudden burst of overdriven rhythm guitars in the hook, it is an exquisitely balanced rock song. Jumping back in the timeline to the album’s second cut ‘Dark’, another memorable cut. ‘Dark’ features an infectious groove that hypnotizes with an alluring verse before a heavy and looming chorus hits with guitars that are distinctively distorted. Among the album’s most standout cuts for sure. ‘Melanin’ and the aforementioned ‘Better Company’ feature what could be described as a hopeful sound, perhaps leaning on their major tonality. Both songs played back-to-back, with their positive vibes and lush guitars, offer a precious respite from the rest of the record’s general sense of rock-typical darkness.
Gilded Echoes is a very engaging debut from a group of seasoned veterans. Silver Dollar Room are really bringing heaps of confidence in their sound and via their songwriting that point towards a group that is here to amass an audience and have some prolonged success, which is a thing most new rock bands can only hope for. Silver Dollar Room’s sound and style are varied with a unique fingerprint, and with a direction that’s rooted firmly in rock, they are a group in full command of their sound.
