“Get Over It”
from the album Bodies of Water
2008
iTunes
Eau Claire native Adam Hurlburt says Solid Gold’s music translates better overseas, which is partly a reason for recent tour dates in the United Kingdom.
But the band’s show last month at First Avenue might have indicated otherwise, as the psychedelic, electro-pop quintet kept a sold-out crowd grooving to heavy electronic beats, ghostly synth swirls and bouncing bass lines.
Despite filling the supporting role for Wild Light and fellow Minneapolis indie rockers Tapes ‘n Tapes, Solid Gold put on a show of headliner magnitude. Frontman Zachary Coulter’s smooth, wistful vocals led the band through much of its first full-length album, Bodies of Water, performing tracks “Armoured Cars,” “Get Over It” and “Who You Gonna Run To?”
Backed by giant Lite-Brite boards, Solid Gold’s spacey setup and laid-back stage presence made the show hard to put a finger on. But whatever it was, it appears to be, in fact, solid gold.
“It’s just kind of what came out,” bassist and guitarist Hurlburt said of the album. “We weren’t really shooting for anything. So I guess that’s kind of why it’s genre-bending in a way.”
As receptive as First Avenue was to Solid Gold’s dance tunes, Bodies of Water also has pleased critics in the Twin Cities and internationally. “We’re getting a lot of good critical acclaim for it,” said Hurlburt. “I grew up going to First Ave. to see shows. This is our second time playing there, but this is the first time we got to play in front of a sold-out crowd, which was great. Kind of like a childhood dream come true.”
The First Avenue gig was just one of a few Minneapolis shows in preparation for a eight-date tour in the U.K., which kicked off in London. Solid Gold also landed a coveted spot at the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference this month in Austin, Texas.
Hurlburt, who grew up in Eau Claire and graduated from Memorial High School in 2000, joined Solid Gold four years ago when he moved to Madison. “I’ve been in bands that have toured all over the country,” he said. “But it’s newer in the sense that we’re actually getting attention, which is a lot more fun than starving to death on tour for a month and a half in a crappy van.”
Solid Gold first broke onto the scene with a performance at the 2008 College Music Journal Festival in New York. Hurlburt said the U.K. dates are a general-awareness tour — mostly in-store shows where the album has been selling well — which will give interested record labels a chance to check out Solid Gold live.
“It’s huge,” said Hurlburt. “It’s fun to make music that people like and play it live. We want to make a living doing it, which seems to be materializing a little bit more now.”
Hurlburt’s contribution to the national music scene with Solid Gold is just one more element that has grown out of a small but innovative Eau Claire scene. The scene includes the likes of Justin Vernon, pre-Bon Iver. Hurlburt pins the success of Solid Gold and Bon Iver on maturity.
“Justin was pretty integral in teaching me how to play guitar whether he knows it or not,” said Hurlburt. “I think we’re just reaching this point not because we’re all very close in age, but we’re just reaching this point in musical maturity or something in that we all want a little bit more in experimenting with sounds and song structures and all that.”