Album Review: Golden Age by Grandchildren

Grandchildren's 2013 sophomore album, Golden Age, is a swirling, melodic, and often hypnotic album that finds the Philadelphia band bleeding its Technicolor mix of electronic and folk-inflected music all across the pop spectrum. Still centered around the lead vocal of singer/songwriter Aleks Martray, Grandchildren are a six-member indie rock orchestra that arranges Martray's songs using a soup-like blend of acoustic and electric guitars, synthesizers, percussion, strings, and sundry other electronic sounds. On their 2010 debut, Everlasting, Grandchildren seemed to rely more heavily on electronic samples and beats.

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The title and cover art of Philadelphia six-piece Grandchildren’s sophomore LP Golden Age imply – okay, they flat out declare – a revisiting of ‘60s and ‘70s Western culture, that magically forward-thinking era you may have lamented showing up too late for while re-watching your Woodstock DVD every night between 13 and 16. Don’t be fooled; the sounds on this album hearken back to no time earlier than the 21st century, unless you’re really stretching for it. But that’s not where the connection lies anyway.

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At first, nearly everything about Golden Age, the sophomore album by the Philadelphia-based indie rockers Grandchildren, screams nostalgia. There’s the name of the band itself, which places them within the framework of patrilineage. Golden Age is, as a recent charming film told us, the buzzword for those wishing for the old days. The instrumentation throughout this LP often relies on conventions that hearken back to previous decades, in particular the heavy usage of Beach Boys-esque vocal harmonies throughout.

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