It's time for something different instead of a list or an album review. This time I'll talk about a band that is brand new that I think deserves some more buzz. This band is known as RDGLDGRN (Pictured above obviously, and yes it's in all caps with no spaces and no vowels). Why am I making a review (sort've) about them? Well one, I get to talk about them before their inevitable mainstream breakthrough, and two, because I think they're pretty good. But who are these men known by the color of the clothes that they wear? Well I'll be sure to inform you.
At first glance, I believed RDGLDGRN derived their name from the rastafari colors, because the rastafari colors are red, gold, and green. So I immediately took their name to mean that they're reggae musicians, and oh boy was I wrong. The name RDGLDGRN is derived instead from literally what you'd expect. One of the members wears red, the others green and gold. Hence, their name being RDGLDGRN. They chose these colors because the members were all in a band beforehand with 4 members. Each band member of RDGLDGRN isn't just dressing the way that they do for the image, they've been living their life representing their chosen color for about 7 years. Their old band was named the 51, and one of the members aways dressed in red, another gold, another green, and another blue. Blue left the group to pursue his own career and they changed their band name to correspond with the colors of the clothes that each band member wore. As to why RDGLDGRN put their name together in all caps lock with no vowels, Green described in an interview with the couch sessions that "Alot of people wonder why we did that but it makes people talk about us."
RDGLDGRN wasn't alone to start off their music career. Like I've stated before, Red, Gold, and Green were all in a different band with another member. Other people have helped RDGLDGRN publish their first, self-titled EP. In 2012, the band recorded the EP at Sound City Studios with Kevin Augunas who had produced The Lumineers and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes previously. They signed onto Augunas' label, Fairfax Recordings and began recording. The band asked Dave Grohl to join them for drumming on the EP. Grohl agreed and drummed on all songs except Million Fans. The band also had help from Pharrell Williams who co-wrote and co-produced the song Doing the Most. The band also performed on Jimmy Kimmel live in March 2013. The self-titled EP was released on February 12, 2013, and here is my two cents on the EP.
Track 1: I Love Lamp
Let me be blunt and straightforward and just say that I love I Love Lamp. Well, I can't start talking about it without making sense of the music of RDGLDGRN. RDGLDGRN is based out of DC, and all of the members are from Washington, DC, and as such, they have been exposed to a lot of local music around the DC area. Now I live in Maryland, but I still live about an hour and a half driving distance to Washington, DC, and I honestly have no clue what the local music is like. Apparently, it's described as Go-Go. Now, I have never heard of Go-Go music, but what's weirder than that is that RDGLDGRN's music is defined as Indie Go-Go, which is a combination of a lot of genres including hip-hop, indie rock, and Go-Go. If I were to describe any song that would be the definition of Indie Go-Go, then I would point to I Love Lamp as a definition. Now that that's out of the way, this song is amazing. Sure, it may take a few listens, but I Love Lamp is amazing. The meaning is slightly hard to follow. So the main character of the song is on the complete other side of the country from his girlfriend and they know that they're cheating on each other so they're breaking up and they hope that they can still get it... I'm not too keen on what's happening, but the song is so vibrant and full of energy, it's almost impossible not to enjoy. Finally, yes, this song is named after a famous quote from the movie, Anchorman. RDGLDGRN really like movies, and Anchorman is one of the band's favorites. The band was asked what is something that makes them happy and they responded with "I Love Lamp."
Track 2: Doing The Most
This is the only song on the album that was written by more than just RDGLDGRN. As I've stated before, the song was co-written by Pharrell Williams and RDGLDGRN. However, the song was also written by Kevin Augunas. Now I'm not sure what the song is implying with the words "You should do less now, because you're doing the most." I've never really heard that expression, but I would imagine it means that... well... you're accomplishing a lot of tasks during a rather short period of time. My thoughts on this song are perhaps it's a time capsule for when the band looks back at themselves in the future and the past RDGLDGRN is telling the group to slow down and just relax once in a while in their lives. To me, even though a lot is happening in this song, it does seem pretty relaxing. It fairs a lot better to relax tho Doing the Most than any sappy and whiny acoustic ballad about not doing anything in particular.
Track 3: Million Fans
Million fans is the only RDGLDGRN song right now that has a music video, because I Love Lamp did have one but was taken down unfortunately. It's the more rap and hip-hop focused of all of the songs on the EP, and I must say I was slightly turned off at first, but after several listens, I have to admit that I enjoy it. Especially with lines such as "Hate if you want, long as you listen." That right there is a statement that I can support proudly. Now I don't know why on their very first EP they recorded a song entitled Million Fans, especially when the band is completely brand new. Maybe the band thought that they might as well plan for when they do have a million fans. All in all, it's a solid track.
Track 4: Hey O
Now on to the band's final track on their very first EP; Hey O. Hey O sounds like what could be a mashup of all of the bands previous songs. Hey O consists of the upbeat tempo of I Love Lamp, the recurring forceful chorus of Doing The Most and flowing rap verses from Million Fans. Honestly, I like this song a lot, and it's a pretty good closing song to an EP.
There you have it. The EP and story of RDGLDGRN so far. Honestly, I'm glad I made this (sort've) review, and I really look forward to what they have to offer in the future. I hear that the band will be releasing an album in the summer, which I will probably review. Until then, the next post will definitely be of an album review.
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