Fool’s Gold
Flying Lessons
ORG
5/10
Continuing the refinement process they started with 2011’s Leave No Trace, Fool’s Gold continue to tame the wild and liberated tongues of their 2009 debut—tidying up the Malian guitar and Ethiopian horns, and figuring out how to make straightforward pop hits. While Flying Lessons has the same elements listeners have come to expect from the LA group, the beats and layers are almost always softened and subdued, turned inward and made contemplative. Even all-out-dance single “I’m In Love” pauses to catch its breath and offer up a few seconds of grateful reflection, although sometimes we just want to dance. To be sure, the group’s ability to expertly rearrange and synthesize their component parts is admirable, and it’s surprising how many different kinds of stories they can tell using the same words and phrases they’ve always used. But in the same way you never quite buy your wildest friend’s suddenly willing domestication, you wish they’d quit kidding around and start partying again.
