Monogold

"The frenetic, driving rock-pop of Monogold has earned these Brooklynites a reputation as one of the best live bands in the borough." - Village Voice

Last week, Google made a big announcement that opened up Google Music to the masses – now allowing music lovers to stream up to 20,000 tracks for free from the cloud. Google Music even has some sweet perks for indie artists and made a point of sharing the news with awesome artists including Chris Ayer, Monogold, Shinobi Ninja and Bird Call. And the coolest news of all? They are all Sonicbids members! - Sonicbids

Breaking Bands is featuring a band this week that you might remember as a winner of INDMUSIC’s CMJ Music Video Contest with The Deli Magazine. This Brooklyn three-piece band played a great set at CMJ and we are happy we had the chance to be there.

Since Monogold formed the line up has undergone many transformations going from five members to three members, but listening to the band perform you’d never think that a three piece could create such a textured sound. The band’s single, “Wind or Hymn” from their album The Softest Glow starts with waving synths and a bouncing beat that gives way to ethereal vocals and powerful guitar.

Breaking Bands: Monogold

Written By: Matthew Arevalo
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November 21, 2011
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Posted In:

On The Rise

Breaking Bands is featuring a band this week that you might remember as a winner of INDMUSIC’s CMJ Music Video Contest with The Deli Magazine. This Brooklyn three-piece band played a great set at CMJ and we are happy we had the chance to be there.

Since Monogold formed the line up has undergone many transformations going from five members to three members, but listening to the band perform you’d never think that a three piece could create such a textured sound. The band’s single, “Wind or Hymn” from their album The Softest Glow starts with waving synths and a bouncing beat that gives way to ethereal vocals and powerful guitar.

The future is bright for Monogold: they were featured in Google Music’s announcement last week and receiving accolades from countless music blogs and magazines. We are looking forward to more videos and shows. When Monogold comes to your town, be sure to check out their amazing live show. - What's Trending

New York indie band Monogold and rap artist Busta Rhymes held court last week at the invitation-only audience as Google unveiled a library of 8 million songs available for download, from a collection that will soon grow to 13 million.


- NewsObserver.com

A Brooklyn-based trio whose brief biography begins at SUNY-Purchase, Monogold plays sumptuous guitar-based rock—somewhere between the enchanting melancholy of the British shoegaze era and the more aggressive punch of such New York forebears as Interpol and the Walkmen. On the band's two self-produced recordings, 2007's "Waves" and 2009's "We Animals," bassist Mike Falotico and drummer Jared Apuzzo build rhythmic foundations for guitarist-vocalist Keith Kelly to inhabit with his reverberative falsetto and ringing, euphonic chords. Whether on lovely mid-tempo confections like "Dead Sea Minerals" or more upbeat fare like the skip-along "Foxgloves," Monogold crafts six-string dreamscapes. The band plays Tuesday night at Lit Lounge. - The Wall Street Journal

Monogold’s album is a soft spoken mixture of whats in the main vein of quality indie rock in Brooklyn hasn’t that been taken over by lo-fi. It has its psychedelic touch, that vocal delivery of ARMS, Grizzly Bear and Arcade Fire, and mingles with the handful bands that embraced the Animal Collective sound, I don’t usually have a bunch indie rock on here but I feel very comfortable sharing this song with you. - iso50

This song posses such a solid groove. I can see how a crowd would vibe on this, with their soft glowing ora. I feel like this groove is good for all situations. Whether it be driving, chillin’ or being contributing member of society. This comes off their LP The Softest Glow. Which in my opinion describes their sound quite well.

Another stand out off their album is Spirit or Something, which you can download for FREEEEE. Think Yeasayer, but mellower. Without the overwrought feeling that Yeasayer gives you. But still posses a topical-dance sound with a high level of energy that makes for, what I think would be, an awesome live show. Hoping to check these dudes out at SXSW, but if you’re in BK March 11th check em out with Chad Valley, Selebrities, Teeel at Glasslands.

I feel this will become my favorite after a few more listens. - Head Underwater

DIY doesn’t necessarily mean lo fi, and Brooklyn musicians Monogold show that basement production can be silky smooth with the release of their LP “The Softest Glow.” The falsetto croonings of singer Keith Kelly interweave neatly with dreamy themes that take the listener on a peaceful, relaxing journey from start to finish. Hard to find something not agreeable here.

Catch Monogold March 11th at Glasslands Gallery before they take off to SXSW, where they look to make some serious waves. Don’t be surprised if you see this band get some blog buzz over the course of the festival. Listen to and download their single “Spirit or Something” here, and you can head to their Bandcamp page to stream and buy the rest of the album. - Electric Panda Music

Up-tempo Brooklyn-hailing trio called Monogold, dropped a catchy tune by and it just made me wanna jump into a ravine only to grab a vine and swing to the ground as I pretend to be chased by some sort of anti-environmentalist. I’m not really sure though. - AWD Castles

A lot of songs take a while to speed up, get going. They suck you in, entice you with a look, gain speed, then at some point you realize you’ve been hooked by their sharp claws and you can’t escape the sound. This track has been making it around thru my friends’ blogs, and after listening several times, I’m realizing how it’s the end of this tune that just slays it and has me hooked. Wickedly good pop. - YVYNYL

morgen köln, morgen welt.

heute möchte ich euch den start in den tag mit monogold aus brooklyn versüßen. die drei jungs haben am 18. januar ihr debutalbum the softest glow ohne die hilfe eines labels veröffentlicht. zu kaufen gibt es das album somit erstmal nur bei bandcamp. ich bin mir aber sicher, dass das nicht lange so bleibt. deshalb lautet der tipp des tages: reinhören! - HEY

New York's Monogold have just returned from tour including stops at this year's SXSW Festival. With their latest album, The Softest Glow, in tow, the band teamed up with FILTER to answer a few questions about how the band came to be, their SXSW experience and other little inside ditties. Read below!

After reading the interview, purchase Monogold's, The Softest Glow, Right Here.

How did Monogold come together as a band? Creatively, does it ever get tough with the lineup changes the band has had?

Monogold started with Jared and myself at Purchase college in NY. After moving to Brooklyn and a couple of lineup changes and band names, we started writing the "We Animals" EP. Mike who was already a long time friend joined around this time and kind of solidified our sound and us as a 3 piece.

Creatively it works so well as a three piece. The sound is very sparse at times and very full at others. Its much easier to add and subtract this way.

How was your 2011 SXSW experience?

This last SXSW was amazing! We played with so many great bands such as our friends from Brooklyn "And you will know us by the trail of dead", and "Tiny Victories". It was really fun playing to so many people who never heard of us and the responses were great.

Who are some of the band’s musical influences?

We have a pretty wide range of influences, some obvious and some not so apparent, from The Talking Heads, to The Shadows etc.

It's kind of impossible to be an artist in NY and not be influenced by your surroundings. As far as the NY music there's such a wide array of styles. Our sound might be heightened by the use of constant senses living in NY, but a lot of the ideas and lyrics have nothing to do with living in the city. We have a really great balance by having our own studio upstate so it lends a good point of perspective. Recording The Softest Glow, we were up there for months over the summer and fall and that environment was a huge influence, especially lyrically. It’s always nice to hear crickets one day and then the sound of a subway overhead the next..

Thanks so much! - Keith - Filter Magazine

A lot of über-hyped bands fail to make waves beyond their earliest releases (remember Black Kids?). Monogold is a three-piece from Brooklyn whose second EP, We Animals, had the blogosphere throwing their panties on stage from the first sun-drenched note. Well, my little music-world clairvoyants, maybe you were right. Monogold have just released their first full-length, The Softest Glow, and it’s pretty damn good. “Ivory Teeth Golden Tusk” is a neo-soul/neo-psych lullaby and “2s or 4s” is a bachata-infused rooftop party hosted by the cool kids. Go see Monogold at Pianos tonight because really, you’d be a fool not to. - Unveiled Arts

New York's Monogold stripped down their experimental indie sounds for an exclusive performance at the Dickies House during the 2011 SXSW Festival.
The group whittled their tune "Feel Animal" down to a guitar, shaker, and mini keyboard. Check it out. Keep checking in for more performances from the Dickies House at the 2011 SXSW Festival. - Dickies

Monogold’s performance was an incredible way to begin my Saturday night. Everything about their set was well constructed, well timed, and extremely well done. With tight transitions and great coordination with their electronic samples, this band displayed the perfect combination of polish and creativity. A three piece from Brooklyn, they had clearly already garnered a reputation for their live show, as I was told by several audience members to expect something pretty fantastic. If you haven’t seen them yet, I would definitely recommend you take a trip to Union Pool on April 17th to catch their set. - The Wild Honey Pie

There are those times when you hear a band and you think to yourself, “How have I not heard this before, and how are these guys not huge?” That’s what happened when I came across Monogold on a SXSW sampler. While I do enjoy the reward of an album that has to grow on you, Monogold makes music that is instantly addicting and fun. For me, they were that band that you start telling everyone to listen to, the band that forces you anxiously down the Google rabbit hole to find everything they’ve done.

It doesn’t take long to find their debut LP The Softest Glow (available here) and the pop gems it’s got in store. The Brooklyn three-piece runs in a world where euphoric vocals and anthemic choruses bounce and soar along rhythm and percussive pieces that weave the tropical with youthful urgency. “Wind or Hymn” opens with a Yeasayer like synth line and drum clicks reminiscent of Local Natives, but once Keith Kelly’s sing-along falsetto comes in amidst a guitar hook that’s just as catchy as anything either of those touchstones have done, it’s clear that Monogold is the poor man’s version of no one.

Likewise, there’s something life-affirming about “Spirit or Something”, which takes the atmosphere of dream pop and brings it down to earth with tribal-tinged percussion. The two elements build slowly but gain speed and intensity as the song grows with Kelly bringing it to a close in crescendo–like fashion. Monogold doesn’t make dance music, per se, but just try and keep your body still when these tracks are playing. I’ll let the music and the band speak for themselves, so have a listen to a few more and get to know about the band in our interview with Keith Kelly.

Crawdaddy!: How did you guys get together to form Monogold? What was your musical or band experience before you started playing as Monogold?

Keith Kelly: Jared and I met at Purchase College in NY. He was there getting a studio comp degree, and I was in the Fine Arts program. Both of our degrees actually really play an integral role in the band. We do all of our art and our own recording and production. After graduation we moved to Brooklyn and played together as various lineups and band names. Eventually in 2009 we started writing the We Animals EP and really harnessed our sound. Mike joined the band around this time and really solidified us as a three-piece.

Crawdaddy!: What were your musical influences growing up? How do you think they’ve informed the music you’re creating now?

Kelly: There is such a wide range of influences from growing up that still affect our sound, whether it’s in the actual music or the ideas or the art. From the Talking Heads to Nirvana to Radiohead, there are so many things to pull from. Sometimes it’s not even a conscious thing; it might be from a song you haven’t listened to in 10 years, but its imprinted in your mind and heart, and there it is.

Crawdaddy!: Is there a story behind the name “Monogold?” Any run-ins with the Belgian band Monogold?

Kelly: The name Monogold comes from a series of paintings/ performance from an artist from the ‘60s named Yves Klein. He detested his client base which was mainly the bourgeois Rrench artsy types. So he proposed they give him their gold jewelry, and he’d melt it down to gold tempera. Instead he stole their gold and sold them back paintings with gold leaf called Monogolds. I absolutely loved that, so in turn we stole the name.

Crawdaddy!: How does a Monogold song become a Monogold song? Where do you start?

Kelly: A lot of our songs will start out pretty basic, a guitar part and a vocal melody. Then we’ll add layers and arrangements.

Crawdaddy!: Lyrically, your songs seem to use body and nature imagery in abstract and poetic arrangements. While always open to interpretation, as a whole within a song, they still seem to convey universal themes like that of love, loss, growing up, celebrating life, etc. Where do you draw inspiration when writing these songs? Do they come from an autobiographical place or a more observational one?

Kelly: The lyrics are almost always last. I usually try to fit them into the melodies. The lyrics are never completely autobiographical or to literal. They are loosely based around certain emotions and the abstract reactions to them, such as colors, landscapes, transformations, memories, or people and places I’ve never met or been.

Crawdaddy!: You guys recently got back from the madness that is SXSW. How was your festival experience? What were the highlights?

Kelly: SXSW was great this year we played with so many amazing bands such as our friends from Brooklyn, And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Tiny Victories, etc. It’s been a great couple of weeks and I’m kinda bummed to be going back to the snow of NYC.

Crawdaddy!: Coming from Brooklyn, you’re in the epicenter of indie culture/music. How does that environment of creativity influence you as musicians? Do you have any close relationships with other New York acts?

Kelly - Crawdaddy Magazine (album review / interview)

Monogold, “Spirit or Something”- This is one of those songs I’m going to wear out soon because I can easily listen to it 4 times in a row and still want to hear it again. Brooklyn’s Monogold is shy to play many shows around the city, sadly, because I think they are one of the borough’s best little-known bands. A mix of really tasteful experiemental indie pop with folk and dance influences. The churning, infectious building rhythms drive the song is a really progressive and powerful way, and the beautiful synth repetitions make the song feel weirdly endless. I don’t really know who to compare them to except maybe a mix of experimental intentions of Animal Collective into a more cohesive package a la Passion Pit..but that really does them no justice. Buy their new album, “The Softest Glow” here! You won’t regret it… - Mavenly

"Monogold's melodies soar like an eagle on top of a rollercoaster on top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Why would there be a rollercoaster on Mount Kilimanjaro? You see things that are there and say, "Why?" But I see things that are not and say, "Why not?" Or, something like that. // Anyway, this lovely Brooklyn band creates wonderfully crafted lush pop that glides towards dreamy and transcendent territories. Singer Keith Kelly uses his floating falsetto to propel the trio's songs up, up, and up some more. // This is not sad music for you sacks who are sad. Monogold's music reaffirms the things in life that are worth reaffirming. (I'm not going to tell you the things in your life that needs reaffirming. I just work here.) // These three are such hookers too. Wait, scratch that. What I mean is the pop Monogold makes is catchy and sticky and big time hooky. Total sluts... to singable choruses! // If you like The Walkmen, you should give Monogold a chance. They might scratch that same itch. Now if you'll excuse me, we have a mountain to climb and a rollercoaster to ride. The eagle was a little lonely up there." - Oh My Rockness

"Justin Timberlake wanted to bring sexy back, Judd Apatow wants to bring penis back, The Strokes want to bring their heyday back, while I make it a mission to bring fidelity back. Imagine how many fewer fuzzy, similar-sounding “buzzbands” we’d have to deal with if they were forced to prove themselves in an arena of crystal clear sound and honest musicianship. Monogold would surely prevail under such circumstances. “Ivory Teeth Golden Tusk” sharpens your ear drums as piercing piano clash vibrantly with tribal drumming and malleable vocal harmonies. It gets you moving, thinking, feeling in all sorts of ways that the dull haze of chillwave and lo-fi bedroom pop just doesn’t. There’s a time for both genres and styles, but Spring certainly belongs to music like Monogold’s." - I Guess I'm Floating

Monogold’s previous EP, Waves, had comparisons to top acts like Arcade Fire and Radiohead, but with We Animals, it’s obvious that this Brooklyn band has begun to carve out and master their own niche. Throughout the album, there’s a sense of majesty in the music’s waxing and waning textures, dreamlike details, falsetto vocals and grand themes. Opener “Traps/Offerings” grabs the listener from the start, and still has a bit of an Arcade Fire inspiration heard in the phrase “You Said Something”, which cleverly interrupts the general sense of calm as if it’s an epiphanic moment of memory that must be shouted from the rafters. Standouts like “Dead Sea Minerals” break from the album’s overall shoegaze/ethereal leanings with an upbeat guitar that rises into Morricone-inspired whistles. “Foxgloves” has frenetic guitar swirls, highlighted with lilting, high vocal harmonies and almost martial percussion, ending with a memorable punch. This disc is one that’s been on repeat listen since it arrived. Monogold’s obviously come a long way and has broken into new territory with this comfortingly addictive 7-song album. (self-release)–Selina S.

http://www.sentimentalistmag.com/2009/11/20/monogold-we-animals/ - Sentimentalist

“These guys f***ing rock!” (October 2007)

VOTED - "Artists of the Month" (October 2008)

"Monogold's new CD "We Animals" showcases the band's evolution from a rather traditional shoegaze sound into something more ambient and "avant". The serene rhythmic percussions, Keith Kelly’s whispering vocals, and the music's mystical qualities have therapeutic powers. The band's new sound also resonates with a certain hippiedom reminiscent of bands like Animal Collective and The Shins; they master the art of creating 5-minute single beat percussion spacey tunes, with interwoven vocals and instruments that vary and evolve through the song. "Dead See Minerals" is a personal favorite from this CD, with its light electronic undertones along with Monogold’s overall woodland creature vibe. This CD is gorgeous, and you can hear it all at their CD release party at Public Assembly on Friday the 13th. - Chloe Schildhause (November 2009) - The Deli magazine

Sometimes when I'm sorting mail by ear, I feel like I'm an eager gold miner who showed up to California post-1849 only to find anything desirable every now and again. The elements themselves made sure to make the task, albeit thumbing through mail or panning for gold, full of frustration with the all-too-common appearance of fool's gold. Yet, sorting through all the filler and fool's gold for the rare pleasure of finding the real thing makes repetitive routine worth it. This time, however, there weren't any precious metals to be found.. only Monogold.

Hailing from Brooklyn, this band caught my attention with their self-recorded/produced/released debut EP We Animals. There's no telling what's in the water of the famed New York borough creating so many worthwhile, emerging artists but Monogold have clearly been paying their bills. I've been spinning their EP all week and like it more and more after each listen; every track on the seven song EP has something different to offer. Listen to my favorite track that'll immediately hook you with catchy guitar and unfold over a five minute span, traversing different moods and genres so well it's like the roller coaster ride you never want to end.

With fluttering instrumentation and high octave vocals, Monogold have crafted a sound strong enough to make heads nod and ears contentedly sigh. The band, formed through friendships forged at a NYC college, have flown under the radar in such a way I hadn't even heard their inaugural LP Waves when they released it in 2007! However, with songs like "Traps/Offerings" and "Dead Sea Minerals" (listen below) on We Animals - don't expect Monogold to go unheard for much longer.

http://iguessimfloating.blogspot.com/2009/08/hypeworthy-monogold-trapsofferings-dead.html - I Guess i'm Floating (blog)

One of the more buzzed about bands from the latter half of 2007 was Yeasayer, whose reverence to such Brian Eno produced works Remain In Light from the Talking Heads as well as Eno’s own My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts sounds like a win-win to this writer. However, the reality was that, besides the excellent single “2080,” Yeasayer’s debut All Hours Cymbal didn’t leave much of an impression on me. And while I did manage to warm up a little bit to the band after their performance from earlier this summer at the Pitchfork Music Festival, I still felt an overall sense that I was watching Rick Astley front the Talking Heads.

Monogold, like Yeasayer, also hail from Brooklyn, NY which might make a bit of sense as they seem to have taken a cue from Yeasayer’s “2080” and ran with it. Their new EP, We Animals, is one of the more pleasant surprises I’ve received in my inbox from any band for quite some time. With lots of crisp instrumentation that seems to float along while backed by a slight funk sound, the music almost lulls one into a dreamlike trance or sway. More often that not, music such as this can fall into the trap of becoming unfocused but Monogold manage to keep their eye on the finish line until the conclusion of each and every song. And while I wouldn’t normally go for falsetto vocal-stylings, the effect only adds to the atmospheric like state the band conjure; it’s the type of music that appeals to my dreampop sensibilities (i.e., Cocteau Twins) without actually being dreampop. Overall, We Animals is a wonderful EP that actually manages to keep me grasping for what it actually sounds like. RECOMMENDED.

http://ditchingboy.blogspot.com/2009/08/monogold-we-animals.html - Poor Ditching Boy (blog)

The thing I dig most about my discovery of Monogold is how it happened. One day, not all that long ago, I received a blind email from one of the fellas in the band, asking if I’d be willing to listen to their new EP. We get quite a lot of these emails, and while I try to give most things a listen, I don’t always give them the full attention they probably deserve. The day I received the mp3s that comprise We Animals, I was in the middle of some time-consuming computer-related chores, mindless but necessary – the perfect time to put on the headphones and listen to some new stuff, with fingers half-crossed hoping to find a gem.

I found one in Monogold. And it makes me a lot more likely to give the next few bands that randomly send me their music a much more attentive listen.

Monogold operates out of Brooklyn, indie rock ground zero almost this entire decade, and the folks in this band have soaked up the rich environment around them and processed it into something new and fantastic. This seven-track EP is filled with seven diggable tunes, particularly album-opener “Traps/Offerings” and “Dead Sea Minerals.” In fact, “Dead Sea Minerals” might be one of the top songs I’ve heard this entire year, with its anthemic joy, killer drumming, happy guitars, and smooth tenor vocals. Best of all, the good stuff isn’t limited to just those two tracks – there is a lot going on in each one of these songs, like a lot of albums that come out these days. Unlike many of those other albums, however, We Animals never seems like there is something hiding under extra tracks, but instead like each new sound or level of distortion was an inspired new puzzle piece cleverly and astutely added in to the mix. This is vintage post-college Liberal Arts major/music minor indie pop and I love it. (I also love the album cover art.) (And has anyone been keeping count of how many times I’ve used the word “love” in this blurb so far?) (Or parenthetical digressions?)

This band is still early into its development, but I’m optimistic on where they are going to go. A while back I listened to an EP by another band from New York, Suckers, and told a friend that, based only on the songs on that short album, there was a solid chance those guys could be my next favorite band. I won’t go that far on Monogold, yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I find myself saying something similar whenever their next album comes out. In the meantime, I have a hunch I’m going to be paying a lot more attention to NYC concert listings, hoping for a magical weekend when one of those bands is playing somewhere on a Friday and the other somewhere else on a Saturday. At that point, I can assure you I’ll be making phone calls to friends who live there, arranging couches to sleep on and pals to go to the shows with.

http://citizendick.org/2009/08/17/special-ep-review-post-brown-recluse-sings-go-home-robot-monogold-and-zaza/ - Citizen Dick (blog)

A few weeks ago a Brooklyn based band named Monogold reached out to me via a simple email asking me to visit their MySpace page to check out their music. Always looking for something new I clicking on the link in the email and checked out a song titled “Feel Animal”. I was completely floored by how great it was. The upbeat dramatic indie rock song was such a pleasant track to hear.

The song alone in my opinion is proof this band is going to be going places. Of course I don’t want to jinx them but imagine my surprise of hearing such a track and instantly loving it. I immediately asked the band for more.

The band kindly sent the rest of the EP to me titled We Animals. Just as I had hoped the other six tracks that were self recorded, self produced, and self released by the three members have a very likable feel to them. The harmonous singing and catchy guitar playing is perfect for a soundtrack to a warm summer evening drive. Trust me, I speak from personal experience.

The fact that this band is only a three piece amazes me. Honestly when you hear their sound in the rest of the EP you would like it would take more than a trio to perform such tunes. I thought so highly of this band I decided that I wanted to take their music a step further to help them get their music heard.

http://www.brokenheadphones.com/ - Broken Headphones (blog)

Dear Monogold, if I were a record label I would sign you… Just FYI. I have been listening to Monogold’s new album off and on for about a month now… You can’t deny the goodness of this 3 piece band hailing from New York. Soaring guitar driven riffs mixed with some sublime pop. Yummy! I can honestly say I enjoy the album from front to back and I am pretty sure you will agree. Here are a couple of my favs, enjoy!

http://www.untitledrecords.com/2009/11/monogold-shines/ - Untitled Records (blog)

“Feel Animal” is a warm hybrid of echoing vocals and stripped down guitar, perfect for a fall season full moon. Somewhere in between genre-crossing favorites Girls and Animal Collective, the Brooklyn-based boys of Monogold just love to go for it…whatever “it” is (watch video). The initial vocal mash carries to the joyously repetitive drum, bass and guitar accompaniment. Free from buzzes, clicks and whistles of heavy post-production, “Feel Animal” crisply commemorates those who follow their impulses and encourages those who don’t to drop it and go wild. Catch one of Monogold’s North East shows this winter and watch out for a full-length album coming soon.

http://spinearth.tv/report/spinearth-tv-exclusive-twelve-singles-from-rising-bands - SPIN Earth

The first time I listened to Monogold’s new EP “We Animals”, I was instantly hooked. I told everyone. I emailed all my friends. I took initiative. You know why? Because I rarely love music enough to do that, and when it’s really great, I want everyone to know.

These guys are the absolute real deal. Three native New Yorkers, they’ve been in musical-genius hub Williamsburg, Brooklyn for years, laying low, listening, and perfecting their sound. They know the ropes. Hell, they helped tie the ropes.

Monogold played a CMJ show at Spike Hill this weekend. Place was PACKED. People were freaking.the.fuck.out. It was amazing. Hipsters dancing?? In Williamsburg? Not staring sullenly at the stage, as if bored or comatose??! Yes, it’s true!

For their 3rd live show ever, you would never have expected the easy-going yet professional stage presence, the engaging styles of each musician, their ability to make each song organic and fun, but also clean and well preformed. And you wouldn’t have expected that there was even an answer to the question “how the hell is a three piece going to be able to play this live?” The anwser is: like pros. I would not hesitate to throw these three up on a stage in front of a thousand people.

Monogold played the hits from “We Animals”, as well as new songs that had the whole sweaty, screaming crowd jumping up and down. Congas, chants, guitar solos, ripping baselines, whispers turned screams, and all smiles — yes! yes! yes!

http://iratherwalk.com/?p=369 - iratherwalk (blog)

(when contacted for an interview, this was said of the band...)

"Guys, I know when I hear revelations...You are my big october discovery...Instantly one of my rare adorable favourite bands...." - Vlad Stoian - Sunete Magazine

Whatever you do, don’t tell Monogold that they sound like Animal Collective. Or that they are a synthpop band.

“We’re a fucking rock band,” bassist Michael Falotico says. “Singer/guitar player, singer/bassist, singer/drummer, like, I’m sorry — that’s a rock band.”

The Animal Collective comparison is a particular point of tension with the three-piece Monogold, not because they hate Animal Collective, but because the comparison is wrongheaded — and yet has gotten passed around in nearly every bit of press about the band: here, here, and here, for example.

“With a lot of media outlets, they’ll say a couple things directly relevant to what you just put out,” lead singer and guitarist Keith Kelly says. “But then to describe you, they didn’t look at your whole catalog, so they’ll just Google...and there it goes. You become an Animal Collective synth thing.”

These misconceptions, however, have fueled their most recent work, which definitely doesn’t sound like Animal Collective. Their fourth release, Good Heavens, is an acoustic departure from their weird, ambient earlier efforts, with each member of the band doing things they normally never do — their drummer plays mainly keys; their bassist plays slide guitar. “It’s bedroom Monogold,” Falotico says. New York–bred (all three members were born in different boroughs), Monogold today evince a fraught relationship with their hometown. They’ve stuck around despite a general feeling that the city’s current music scene has too many bands and not enough cool venues where they can play. Other options have been discussed: maybe upstate, where they play a festival called O+ every year, or Nashville, or Los Angeles, though Kelly has strong opinions on that last one. “I fucking hate L.A. I don’t want anything to do with that place,” he says. “More traffic than even here, plus you can’t get pizza at four in the morning, and if you do, it’s made with, like, shitty dough. Why bother?”
'You want control of your music, but then you don’t have enough time to make more music to be in control of because you’re controlling everything.'

But living in New York comes at its own cost. Monogold, like almost every band here, are doing a lot of the behind-the-scenes work themselves, whether that’s mixing the album or trying to get single placements in commercials — anything to sustain the music they’re making. “There’s no record company coming over with suitcases of cash anymore,” Kelly says. And even if there were, that would mean a loss of creative control. “You want control of your music, but then you don’t have enough time to make more music to be in control of because you’re controlling everything.”

It’s tiring. Drummer/pianist/singer Jared Apuzzo has two kids. Both Kelly and Falotico tend bar to make ends meet. That’s part of the reason why there’s a pretty large gap in Monogold’s discography, from 2011’s The Softest Glow to late 2014’s This Bloom. But This Bloom kicked off a rush of new music from the band, with Good Heavens released in September and another new album (reportedly “more poppy and weird”) on the way for spring 2016.

If that strikes you as a lot of new music for the average listener, you’re not wrong, but Monogold don't feel like it's out of the ordinary at all. Rather, it's a way of making up for lost time, of testing their limits. The result is a three-album saga through Monogold's inspirations. Kelly has been obsessed with the Pixies of late; the band as a whole has been tuned in to the Sundays. The three albums range from upbeat to calm to pop-influenced, which is part of Kelly’s strategy: “They bleed in and out,” he says, “but they’re always distinct.”

The band is still working out details for a potential tour behind Good Heavens (after their upcoming album release show at Rough Trade), but Monogold never want to put a flute on a laptop, so live shows are difficult. Luckily a new, more tourable record is on the horizon, giving Monogold another chance to stretch their wings.

But at the end of the day, as long as you’re actually listening to Monogold’s music, you can pretty much say whatever you want about them. “If someone’s like, ‘You sound like "Weird Al" Yankovic,’ and they say they’ve listened to the record, so be it,” Kelly says. The band admires musicians with eclectic catalogs, so even if they sounded like certain other bands on earlier records, they don’t want their next work to be reminiscent of their previous. “I don’t want anyone to be like, ‘Oh, that’s Monogold,’ ” Falotico says. “I want them to say, ‘Damn, that’s Monogold!’ ”

Kelly jumps in, “Or, ‘Damn, they sound just like Animal Collective!’ ” - Village Voice

Indie-pop band Monogold, consisting of Keith Kelly, Jared Apuzzo, and Michael Falotico, released their LP, Good Heavens, on the 15th of September 2015. This Brooklyn-based band brought their talents to a whole new level, making an album that is very different to the music they’ve released in the past. Their last EP entitled This Bloom acted as a prelude to Good Heavens, and the album, along with their newly released Music Videos for “Pink Lemonade” and most recently, “Orchard Beach”, bring a chill, vintage vibe that you can listen to almost anywhere you go, whether it’s during a long road trip, or while you’re sitting on the couch working.

The album opens with the soft acoustics in “Mega Flora”, which flows incredibly with the main and backing vocals. The second song off the album, “Orchard Beach”, goes perfectly with its music video. The tranquility and peacefulness of the track fits in excellently with the style of the music video. The track following it, “Pink Lemonade” also fit with its hilarious music video. This track in particular had a more upbeat vibe, and it makes you want to dance along with the people in it. You could never get enough of Keith’s mesmerizing vocals, which are the most powerful in the record’s closing song, “Good Heavens”. It was an amazing way to close off the album, and it was easily the best song off the album.

Something unique about Monogold specifically is that they can keep where they came from as artists while being able to change aspects of their sound. Thank goodness they’re already tracking another full length record. If you haven’t heard of Monogold already, get onto iTunes right now and download this album, and if you’re near the east coast, catch them on stage with The Peach Kings very soon! - Monkeygoose Magazine