On their eponymous debut album of 2009,
L.A. beatboys FoolÕs Gold treated the indie-rock mob to a bubbling batch
of jammy rock/pop liberally laced with African, Latin and other worldly
spices ÐÐ and, refreshingly, the bandÕs simmered stew of non-Western and
classic pop morsels didnÕt taste like overcooked slop.
FoolÕs Gold has just released the followup Leave No Trace, a pared-down, spaced-out, stomping
beast with hooks by the cartload, wicked strutting grooves, surfy
atmospherics and head-crookinÕ Krautrockian synth swathes. It is, as the
multiculturalists would say, quite a melting pot, only this time itÕs
sung mostly in English rather than Hebrew, which had featured prominently
in singer Luke TopÕs vocals on the first album.
Israel-born Top discovered early on that singing in Hebrew
felt natural for FoolÕs Gold.
ÒThis
idea of combining your folk nature and Western influences is something
IÕve always been interested in,Ó he says. ÒWhen you hear singers like Mahmoud
Ahmed from Ethiopia, some of it does sound like Hebrew in the phrasing,
the shape and sound of the words; the way the cantors sing Hebrew has
that kind of harsh undertone, too.Ó
Guitarist Lewis PesacovÕs background in ÒseriousÓ music
played a role in the bandÕs bridging of African music and Western pop. At
a conservatory in Germany, he studied Òthe new complexityÓ that goes back
to Bach, Webern, Schoenberg and Ligeti, where the complexity comes via
numerous melodic lines played simultaneously.
ÒThis relates to African music,Ó says Pesacov. ÒWhen Ligeti
went to Africa, he adapted the idea of rhythmic polyphony that African
folkloric musicians are doing. Well, I grew up listening to reggae,
African and Brazilian music, and I realized that a lot of their guitar
music is very polyphonic. ItÕs not exactly a Bach fugue, but it concerns itself
with interlocking melodies, a counterpoint melody, rather than a harmonic
chord progression with a melody on top of it.Ó
Fact is, sometimes itÕs good to not know exactly where a bandÕs coming from,
and the FoolÕs Gold way of warping their myriad sound sources can be a
thrillingly odd thing to behold. But their weaving of African and Latin
threads into their Western rock has brought the band a bit of critical
carping.
ÒA journalist from England said, ÔWhy would I listen to you
guys when I could listen to real African artists?ÕÓ says Pesacov. ÒBut we
and the African musicians are coming from such different places. A lot of
African musicians love Clapton, for example, theyÕre trying to be like
rock guitar players, and theyÕre coming at American blues in such a
different way. And thatÕs
why it sounds different. Remember, the Brazilian tropicalista musicians
of the Ô70s proudly ÔcannibalizedÕ British and American pop music. ItÕs a
dialogue between Western and non-Western music.Ó
ÒThere are similarities and connections between many musics
if you dig long and hard enough,Ó says Top. ÒI see all music as part of a
massive spectrum mixing folk traditions and Western pop and rock. WeÕre
involved in a ping-pong dialogue with that world.Ó
Even so, he says, ÒYou canÕt escape who you are. WeÕre kids
from L.A., we like pop music and weÕd be lying to ourselves if we didnÕt
submit to all of our influences. At the end of the day, the goal is to
have your own sound. And ours can go anywhere.Ó
