Albums
GOLD
2017
Release Date: 2017
By Pitchfork
Reviewed May 29, 2017
From their upcoming mixtape Saturation
The amorphous Texas rap crew BROCKHAMPTON is in the midst of building up their own origin story. It’s a natural extension of adolescence for the rising group: trying on new sounds, dipping into angst, partying in full view. Their latest track, “GOLD,” feels like the most fully-formed single the self-proclaimed “boy band” has offered from their upcoming mixtape, Saturation, even if it’s also the most lighthearted.
Packaged as a video single, and directed by de facto frontman Kevin Abstract, “GOLD” is a zany posse cut that casts each member as an endearing weirdo, rambling randomly in the cypher. The beat feels psychedelic and underwater, a woozy guitar line sliding around as a cowbell taps like a funky metronome. The verses are disjointed introductions: Abstract rattles off the hook, Dom Mclennan drop a Mean Girls reference (“We rock pink now on Wednesdays”), and Merlyn Wood swerves in a Honda and teases, “That’s so Merlyn, that’s so Merlyn.” It sounds like a jumbled night out with friends, full of inside jokes and non sequiturs—less a statement of intent than lightning in a bottle.