Goldfinch's "Vacant Lot" Isn't Empty

In two weeks (December 18th), the Tacoma band called Goldfinch will release a single (with b-side) called “Vacant Lot.” These two songs come ahead of the anticipated release of their second full-length album, and they quite possibly establish Goldfinch as Tacoma’s most promising band.

When I first heard the music of singer/songwriters Aaron Stevens and Grace Sullivan, I was struck by its earnestness and simplicity. Their songs were straight-forward, and seethed with an urgency that had no use for artiface.  There was a barely detectable nervous sophistication hidden within their guitar-soaked songs of love and self-awareness, waiting to be teased to the surface by a patient hand and more focused arrangement.

On “Vacant Lot / Elephant”, that patient hand has worked magic. Suddenly, Goldfinch’s music has become intricate. It’s filled with the kind of details and careful recording that make any music lover sit up and pay attention. Strangled electric guitar warbles beneath and between gorgeous strains of steel guitar. Horn arrangements clear the way for almost-whispered vocals. Drums alternate from skittering backdrop to audacious backbone. In short, the songs are allowed to evolve and develop, instead of serving merely as vehicles for intelligent lyrics. These two plaintive and beautiful pieces are anything but plain.

The male and female vocal approach could easily descend into a boring, cutesy gimmick (Swell Season, Jenny and Johnny, She & Him come to mind). But the duets Stevens and Sullivan sing eschew any assumption of relational tension. Their parts are nearly interchangeable, and occupy only as much space as the song requires. Both of their voices are honest, sincere and unaffected – tempered by a restraint that was less apparent in their earlier work. When they sing “I am going to find out what is under your skin,” in “Vacant Lot,” it sounds uncomfortably familiar and resigned instead of desperate and wounded.

Admittedly, this is heady praise, especially when readers might assume I’m cheering for Goldfinch because they are on the “home team.” I can honestly say that I would like this record if it came from New Haven, Albuquerque or Brooklyn. It has the atmospheric ache of Mojave 3 and the intimate spirit of Red House Painters. That they are from Tacoma is a bonus. Goldfinch may not be a innovative, genre-busting band, but they are doing something so satisfyingly “right” with this familiar sound that they actually make it fresh again. The surprisingly deft leap forward signified by “Vacant Lot” only adds to the pleasure of listening to it.

I am somewhat of a musician myself, and so is my wife. We went to the Squeak and Squawk music festival earlier this year, curious to see what kind of life lurked in Tacoma’s music-geek circles. What we saw were several capable and openly derivative bands, but nothing with the immediacy and nonchalant detachment from “artsiness” evident in Goldfinch’s music. After Grace allowed us to listen to “Vacant Lot” this afternoon, my wife and I sat in a booth at the Tacos Guaymas on 38th Street and animatedly discussed its finer points. Rarely has something from the City of Destiny gotten us so excited. We are looking forward to hearing a new full-length record from this band. 

You can stream “Vacant Lot” at Goldfinch’s Bandcamp site here.

To read more about Goldfinch, visit these sites:
GoldfinchStateBird.wordpress.com
Goldfinch’s Facebook Page
Goldfinch’s Myspace Page
Goldfinch’s Booking Site

Upcoming Shows
December 4th, The Green Frog, Bellingham w/The Crying
Shame , Hannalee

December 18th, Columbia City Theater, Seattle
Single Release w/Cobirds Unite & Trespassers William
$8/21+
(tickets available here)

January 28th: Ella Street Social Club, Portland w/Drew Grow
& The Pastors’ Wives

February 4th, The Warehouse, Tacoma w/Grand Hallway,
Birds & Batteries, Kimo Muraki