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Junkmedia.org Review - Filled with heart, soul and wit

junkmedia | Los Angeles, CA | 05/01/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Portland, Ore.-based trio Pond broke up in 1999 after putting out two full-length albums on Sub Pop and a major-label platter. Lauded for impressive guitar work, a strong rhythm section and catchy melodies, critics compared Pond to the Flaming Lips, the Grifters and Weezer. After the split, guitarist/vocalist Charlie Campbell was rumored to be working on something called the Goldcard project. Three years later, Campbell has finally released the album, a wonderfully fragile slab of pop that exudes the warmth and intimacy that home recording often provides.Campbell carries over the guitar work and melodies to most of the songs on Goldcard, many of which were built around what he calls his guitar "gimmick." The effect is sometimes eerie (the untitled first track), often beautiful ("We Only Doubt Which Theory We Will Be Proving First") and always sounds like a treated orchestral string section. I believe the gimmick involves using the edge of a pick like a violin bow to play the strings, albeit with some heavy effects (and sometimes a slide) to bolster the sound. The Flaming Lips use something similar, to powerful effect.Campbell plays all of the instruments (guitars, keyboards, bass) accompanied by a drum machine on many songs. His quiet voice (and occasional falsetto) is sweet and his lyrics smart and occasionally heart-breaking (e.g., "we slowly stop counting/when long divisions keep us apart"). Campbell also recruited some like-minded players for this album. Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss of Quasi are featured on "If I Could Help It"; some of the folks from Grandaddy sit in on "Rabbit." The three relatively straightforward rockers, "Didn't Feel a Thing," "Picture of a Horse," and the untitled track number 12, feature Campbell's former Pond bandmates, drummer Dave Triebwasser and bassist Chris Brady.As a nice touch, Campbell provides literate, funny and sometimes touching liner notes. In addition to providing details of what inspired the songs, who played on them and how each person ended up involved, Campbell goes on humorous tangents about neighbors, politics and gardening. The whole package feels like something Campbell put together for friends, something filled with heart, soul and wit.Dave Brigham
Junkmedia.org Review"

Lo-Fi Magic

Joshua Eyre | Chicago, IL | 08/21/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm quite pleased with this little gem. Just when I had given up on Grandaddy's "Sumday" as being a bad imitation of Grandaddy, Goldcard slid into the picture and filled up that smart and beautiful pop hole that Grandaddy had recently vacated. These songs seem to teeter on the verge of some kind of emotional collapse at all times, yet don't reflect that fact in the content. The fragile nature of the songs makes them precious, but powerful at the same time. There's a great pop sensibility at work throughout the whole album that continually reels in some great hooks and lands solid lyrics. I hear a lot of influences, but the Beatles keep popping into my head. Campbell does some really interesting semi-orchestrations that seem to be inspired by them. The vibe though, in my opinion, is much more along the lines of older Grandaddy which in-turn plugs into Pavement. Goldcard's derivative of neither but gives me that same feeling when I listen... That this guy knows something about making music. It doesn't matter how much money you spend, what big producer's got his fingers on the knobs, or how much the marketing department is going to push you on the public... All of that slick production and money doesn't make a good song if there wasn't some kind of spark to begin with. A good lo-fi pop song is that spark. It's raw perfection and much better better for being so. Goldcard is that in every sense."