When I listened to this new song by Brooklyn newcomers Blue & Gold, I had instantaneously something from Al Green or Ottis Redding in mind… it’s true that ‘It’s Only You’ is a very soulful track, full of emotions and bluesy guitars with Alex Kapelman’s intense vocals in the lineage of white men (The Black Keys, The White Stripes,… ) singing the blues, and there’s nothing wrong with that, on the contrary. Picture this, a guy kneeling down and begging a woman to forgive him for what he has done?
‘How I got to be so blind/To ever think I could be so unkind/Well you got me under your thumb/You get me going and then I know I’m done/An honest man just can’t be found/I make mistakes, put myself underground/It’s only you could break my heart’
Yeah, we, women, have heard this before! Anyway, the song is catchy and sounds like an instant classic, ascending in a passionate way with a guitar solo which seems to look back at the good old times of heavy blues-rock’ n’ roll, only to swell a few seconds later in a big epic way with more guitar and drums.
The band had previously released another track, ‘Ghost Man’, which was much more raw garage blues-rock, starting minimalist with Chloe Raynes’ badass vocals, than exploding with gritty bluesy guitars, a few stop and start effects and lots of ghostly distortion.
Blue & Gold is Chloe Raynes and Alex Kapelman on guitar and vocals, and GG Gonzalez on drums, so listen to both tracks below and catch them live at Pianos in New York City on Wednesday July 17th, I bet they make some serious damage live.