Eternal Summers
Gold and Stone
KANINE
5/10
Eternal Summers have called themselves a “dream punk, noise pop” band. It’s an intriguing description that’s about half true. “Dream” because of the jangly, watery guitars and hazy production; “pop,” presumably, because of the straightforward song structures and unchallenging melodies. But there’s very little here that could be called “punk” or “noise,” which is a shame, because those elements are exactly what this band needs to be interesting. Plenty of people will like Gold and Stone as much as they like the rest of the anonymous, innocuous music that comes up in Pandora’s indie surf-rock playlists between bands like Best Coast, Bleached, and The Drums, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good album. The songs here are bland, and the few moments of risk (like the yelp-singing in standout track “Together or Alone”) aren’t enough to make this anything more than a well-intentioned, but largely forgettable, offering. Simply calling yourselves “punk” and “noise” doesn’t make it so.
