From The Vault Part 9: Goldy Locks – Rewind and Undo

I really feel that I need to preface (as I always seem to do) this piece by stating that I am not usually an avid listener to hard rock music. I do find myself appreciating certain artists though, especially female driven groups. There is something very compelling about the idea of a female with a delightfully upbeat voice, just rocking out so hard to screaming electric guitars and thunderous bass lines. So, while I don’t really cover many artists along the likes of Goldy Locks, I do appreciate her/them as wonderful artists. It’s that type of music that really brings me back to the glory days of when I first heard a group like Soul Distraction or the beginnings of punk bands like Forever or Tacocat. And speaking of glory days……

One of the main reasons I wanted to write about this wonderful album, is that it plays almost directly into the origins of this very site where you are feeding these words into your eyeholes. I shall explain. In the summer of 2011, I spent a couple of months holed up in a hotel room (for the most part) watching every Netflix documentary available, drinking cheap vodka, and basically doing all I could not to delve deep into pits of sadness as very important people passed away back home or just plain missing my wife and three daughters. It was a pretty ugly scene, but something great came out of it. This website! And one of the biggest reasons was because of Goldy Locks.

You see, I would occasionally venture out of that musty hotel room in Biloxi. There were two casinos within walking distance of my hotel, so I felt, why the hell not. I’m not a gambler, but I do appreciate the idea of smoking indoors, and tossing a dollar into a video poker machine and getting served free gin & tonics. One such casino was actually Hard Rock Casino. So, it meant a bit of rock and roll was all around you. And within that Casino, there was a center stage. I know you can see where this is going, it’s not that complicated. One such weekend in July, I managed to catch Goldy Locks performing their hard rock ballads for two nights in a row. At the time I wasn’t certain if I was going to be a huge fan, or if I was just enjoying a bit of relief from my own mind. Eventually, I just became a solid fan. But, I’ve never forgotten how music would bring me out of a funk for a short period of time. Especially live music.

Goldy Locks at the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi, MS (2011).

So how did Goldy Lock’s magnetic and drawing sound bring about the beginnings of Trainwreck’d Society? Well, at this point, I was a solid 3 years into a “career” as a freelance blogger, mostly working (mostly) for the brilliant indie rock-centric Fensepost. I had just gotten Children of Mercy into a couple of shelves across the country, and was in a sort of “what the hell do I do now?” state of mind. Then two things happened. I had an experience with music that didn’t quite fit the world of Fensepost, so I didn’t really have an outlet for that, but I wanted one. The second thing was actually a two parter: I did this strange “questionnaire based interview” with College Magazine about COM where I simply answered some questions in an e-mail and suddenly a pit of press was born, and I drunkenly watch the Netflix documentary I Think We’re Alone Now, which was about two very devote followers of pop singer Tiffany. And something clicked, I am interested in so much more than just introducing new music to readers. I wanted to write about the occasionally hard rocker, and maybe try one of these questionnaires to talk to some people that might peak my interest. So I stole a title from a close friend’s unpublished song he performed once in high school, got some friends on board, and Trainwreck’d Society was born.

And here we are 5 1/2 years later, finally attempting to give a bit of credit to a wonderful hard rock group that inadvertently helped form this little website you are looking at. Simply by being their truly gifted selves, they inspired this silly man-child with a laptop to because an idiot with overflowing promotional e-mails, an IMDb Pro account, and a dream. So, I have to show love to Goldy Locks for guiding me into this mess of an existence.

Now, I know you are thinking…but, the album is good, right? You just spent 700 words barely mentioning the fucking actual album, you Dope! And you are correct. I am a dope. But, I will say that Rewind and Undo is a brilliant record for serious rock and roll fans. They have a bit of everything on here for everyone. There is beautiful orchestration on “Dirty Secret”, there is a beautiful power ballad with the likes of “Today I Won’t Be Afraid”, some very real hardcore, throw your fucking hair around rock and roll in the aptly titled “We Like To Party”. There is a touch of that old school 80’s mentality, but very obviously modernized for today’s crowd. Personally, it is one of the best types of hard rock you can listen to. Why? Because I don’t like to feel frightened or threatened when I listen to loud music. I’m sensitive, I guess. And there isn’t much of that when it comes to Goldy Locks. It’s just pure adrenaline pumping fun, and genuine rock and roll in all its glory.

So that is what I got for ya. Again, so much thanks to Goldy Locks for what did for me, and continue to do for others. Find more information, tour dates, and what not at goldylocksband.com. They are still out there killing it at shows and providing their own brand of brilliant entertainment. If they can rock the bar at a Hard Rock Casino, I could only imagine what they could do to a concert hall. Check them out!

Note: Additional apologies for such a late review, as the formation of Goldy’s band has changed a few times since I first saw them, so please inform yourself with the new crew. Still the same wonderful voice though. You can count on that!