Album Review: Gold Class - It's You

Adam Curley sings like a man from nowhere. On Gold Class' debut album, Curley's morose baritone falls somewhere between Ian Curtis and Andrew Eldritch without the English tone, an affectation that hides his soft-spoken Australian accent. For the first few minutes it's jarring, but by second track, Life As A Gun, Curley's voice is utterly intoxicating.

Though It's You's nine tracks revolve around those deep and bleak laments, Gold Class are fundamentally a guitar band, and an exceptional one at that. Evan James Purdey's guitar tone remains constant throughout, but he's a masterful riffsmith, offering sombre bluesy fretwork to manifest the slow dance sadness of Half Moon Over before busting out a series of irresistible, off-kilter hooks on The Soft Delay.

None of which is to say Gold Class is defined by half its membership. On the contrary, the strength of It's You lies in the whole of this band sounding far greater than the sum of its four parts. Bassist Jon Shub and drummer Mark Hewitt resemble Joy Division's rhythm section in their formative years, underpinning each song with a nervous energy that imbues Curley's words with a poignant fragility, like the whole thing could collapse at any minute.

And it almost does collapse on the closing piano ballad Shingles (Stay A While), where Curley sheds the persona and sings with an Australian accent, and a beautiful one at that. It's a sublime portrait of vulnerability and a perfect closer to a tremendous debut.