Pronto

All is Golden

(Contraphonic)

Record Review by Amber Henson

I think (read "I hope") I’ve grown enough so that I no longer have nostalgia for the good old days that I wasn’t even around for.  As I child I read a lot of books where children in the 50’s went off on adventures, or were allowed to stay out ‘til “the streetlights came on”.  My childhood wasn’t quite like that, except for a few daring outings that my mom will never know about.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that I’ve grown enough to not have nostalgia for the rough old days.  Watching Forrest Gump in middle school, I was so desperate to be a part of the world that Jenny lived in.  I wanted to be hanging out with her when she was wearing that silvery slip dress, contemplating suicide while “Stairway to Heaven” was blaring.  Well, maybe not hanging out.  But I wanted to be a fly on the wall for all that debauchery.  It intrigues me.

So I was quite delighted when I put Pronto’s new album in.  It was like living in the '70s without all the oversized lapels!  Stevie Wonder is new, people are just starting to discover all that a Chicago-like brass section can offer them, and everything striped down.  They still know what’s important, though, at least what’s important to me.  Strong beats.

All is Golden reminds me of my dreams, which are never in color, but more like an overexposed photograph, or like when you come inside to the dark after a sunny day outside.  Mikael Jorgensen’s vocals are stripped down, soft, and scratchy in a nice manly way.  And the other half of the band (yeah, just two main dudes), Greg O’Keeffe, must have spent his childhood in the basement with his drum set.

The only disappointing thing about this album is how it seems to fall off towards the latter half.  There’s a ballad about halfway through, which is fine, I appreciate the need for a ballad on this kind of rock album.  But they never really come back from it.  After it, space rock follows, with wild solos.  Clearly, I’m not doing enough drugs. 

It balances out, though.  The first part of the album really is something to write home about.  Especially since your parents might actually have an inkling of what you’re talking about for once.