Golden Alphabet: The Cormier Walkdown

Brooklyn based psych folkies Golden Alphabet have their songwriter's back on their The Cormier Walkdown EP, providing a subtle r accompaniment. It is obvious that Tommy Cormier wasn't in a particularly good place when he wrote the three songs, going through angry fits, trying to keep a brave face, but ultimately giving in to despair. Also: God is no help at all, something he has known for quite some time, but being disappointed once again still hurts.

Cormier chose his words wisely and economically, keeping it simple while caught in the midst emotional turmoil. It is a 101 for writing songs that cut to the chase, something that can not be taught in school, but comes from experience and been dealt a bad hand.

Golden Alphabet: free show in Brooklyn

Brooklyn based psych folkies Golden Alphabet will be playing a free hometown show at the Gutter Bar on January 16, a rare opportunity to catch them live. The Resonaters and Something Bitter are also on the bill.

» Golden Alphabet on Facebook

HCTF review of Breathe A Lot Of Life

Golden Alphabet: Breathe A Lot Of Life

Brooklyn based psych folkies Golden Alphabet try their hand at swaggering rock song. Breathe A Lot Of Life is brimming with confidence, with husky vocals by Tommy Cormier, come hither percussion courtesy of guest drummer Elliott Abaza and subtle backing vocals by Aria Hammer. Quite a change in regard to their more introverted and/or political awareness, but it works like a charm.

Golden Alphabet: Doozy Soup

Brooklyn based psych folkies Golden Alphabet have every right to be pessimistic about the current shit show in the USA. Is there a glimmer of hope for the people who are getting crushed right now? Melancholy supersedes anger on their new single, Doozy Soup, with no sign of light at the end of the tunnel for now: "Forever born in a world of forms // Where many gorge on the fruit of the poor // We are here to disappear // Thinkin' 'bout voting? // In contrast, it pales to money-men bloating // deflate the floaty where I've been storing my exhales"

Golden Alphabet: Lover's Shake

Tommy Cormier, of Brooklyn based psych folk band Golden Alphabet, found himself in a bad spot and turned to creating music as a means to pull himself together. The foundation for his new single Lover's Shake was recorded live, after which he began the cumberosme process of overdubbing the thing to Hell and back. It came out shiny and new, with the dark undercurrent still in place, but with some sort of relief as the winner, albeit with a tiny margin.

Golden Alphabet : "I'm a Fake" & "Pay-n-Peel" live on WFUV

Tommy Cornier stopped by at WFUV in New York to perform solo acoustic versions of I'm a Fake and Pay-n-Peel, two songs from his folk band Golden Alphabet. The songs were filmed and recorded for the station's NY Slice Sessions.

» goldenalphabet.com

Golden Alphabet: Thinkin' 'Bout Trout

Tommy Cormier, leader of Brooklyn based psych folk band Golden Alphabet, grew up in a religious environment, and he feels that it has held him back for years trying to find his mental bearings, so he turned it into a song: Thinkin' 'Bout Trout. He never embraced religion, but he understands that the idea that the concept of an imaginary almighty power might work for some: "I write shit down every time I feel intoxicated // I write shit down every day // We're break breaking ground // popping balloons // Progressive postulating // We're making God outta clay".

Golden Alphabet: I Found Love, But I'm a Hater

Brooklyn based psych folkies Golden Alphabet are dealing with some kind of reality check on their new single I Found Love, But I'm a Hater. Things that were considered to be decidedly uncool turn out not to be as bad after all. Propelled forward by a catchy, almost country-alike backbeat, they lock into a groove, with Garrett Weinholtz's trombone as the icing on the cake: "I found love, but I'm a hater // I'm vacant of all pain // I push a broom, but i'm a painter // I have no room for shame".

Golden Alphabet: I'm A Fake

Tommy Cormier, singer and main songwriter of Brooklyn based psych folk band Golden Alphabet, recently became a father and while having a daughter is pretty cool, it is also scary, so he did what he knows best and wrote a song about it.

I'm A Fake tackles the joys, the fears and the dreads that all are part of the equation that comes with the responsibilities of having to raise a kid: "Religious telescope pointed at the sun // Melatonin gummy when the day is done // Lift my head up now to reach you // Life isn't beautiful // I'll teach you how to decorate this dark parade // With time and space this world blows away".

Golden Alphabet: Two Songs About Forever's Kings

Brooklyn based psych folk band Golden Alphabet offer two differen songs using the same set of lyrics on their new single Two Songs About Forever's Kings. While the upbeat Forever's Kings is almost optimistic, its slower counterpart King's Forever has a sense of foreboding that a Hollywood ending might fail to materialize.

If anything this twofer is a 101 for conjuring up a mood by way of words and music that should be part of the curriculum of any school that cherishes the arts: "Forever meets forever's kings and says: // "I think i lost control of my health" // I'll know it when I see it // When I'm by myself, it's me that I can't see".

Golden Alphabet: Peace Pipe Vietnam

Brooklyn based psych folk band Golden Alphabet are swinging gently on their new single Peace Pipe Vietnam, a dance on a volcano song about humanity heading for disaster, with hyper-individualism and having a good time at all costs as the main focus, and not giving a fuck about the greater picture. While the message is a stern warning, the melody has plenty of singalong potential and it is a dead ringer for the encore spot at their live shows.

Golden Alphabet: Jumping Castle Full Of Great Ideas

Brooklyn based psych folk band Golden Alphabet go for a darker sound on their new single, Jumping Castle Full Of Great Ideas. Post-punk has wiggled in its way, which is quite appropriate for a song about doubt and contemplating the self-constructed reality that was taken for granted. What if it is a big lie? Add a distorted to the mix and you have followed the recipe for angst and anxiety that was all the rage in the early 80s: "Well, I had jumping castle full of great ideas. // And I saw the world as a pangaea. // But I'm shy, and I'm not smart. // But I have a heart. // It's just not mine".

Golden Alphabet: Crazy Pie

With each new song Brooklyn based roots band Golden Alphabet are delving even further into psychedelic rock. Their latest single, Crazy Pie, is a fuzzy garage-tinged song with a hint of surf, tons of reverb, and well-used feedback. Pies have been used in silent movies ad nauseam, but it must be first to for a band to feel sorry for the decidedly unhealthy, but tasty food: "It was thrown accross the sky // It was known for taking flight".

Golden Alphabet: Ring Every Bell

Roots band Golden Alphabet are in full-on psychedelic pop mode on their new single, Ring Every Bell, a Technicolor tune with a bleak message. The world is a mess, and some parts of it are actually on fire, with armies closing in under the protection of long range missiles. The belief in unlimited growth and expansion turns a blind eye at the consequences.

HCTF's best of 2021 (15-11)

• 20-16
• |
• 15-11
• |
• 10-6
• |
• 5-1

» Best of playlist

» Listen here

HCTF's annual list of the 20 albums that will be in regular rotation for many years to come. As per usual many genres are represented. Here Comes The Flood covers a lot of ground and it shows in this eclectic, final tally.

Today: countdown from number 15 to 11.

Please shop at your local record store. Most of them have a website where you can order your stuff. Buy directly from the artist, attend live shows when it's safe to do so again. Tell your friends. Word-of-mouth can't be beat as the prime source to discover new music.

Golden Alphabet: Peace Meat

Roots band Golden Alphabet are a bit lost on their latest single, Peace Meat. Religion no longer has the obvious answers and coping with life and working on self-esteem has become far more difficult. The psych-tinged ballad has the band's most poetic lyrics to date: "I realize I am not my eyes, I am everybody else's nose // Smell myself on the big box shelf, I'm the purchase nobody chose".

Golden Alphabet: I Never Want To Hurt You

Roots band Golden Alphabet are trying to do the right thing on their new single I Never Want To Hurt You, a sunnyside up song with irony and anxiety playing catch. The band's songwriter Tommy Cormier is aware that things are going South in a relationship, but he has no clue what the fuck he did to kickstart the mess he finds himself in.

Golden Alphabet: It's Over

Roots band Golden Alphabet have released a new song about falling apart, It's Over, an intricate slice of psych-tinged folk tune tied together by an unrelenting catchy rhythm that softens the blow of the lyrics a bit. Lead singer and wordsmith Tommy Cormier goes all out on this one, coming up with a chorus like "Charge for parts and anger // Think of every excuse // Tell them all you're born to take this daily abuse // Your failure's obtuse ruse coming loose". The single is an advanced 101 for those who strive to create a song where metre and music join forces, with the added bonus of making a sad song sound cheerful.

Golden Alphabet: Removable Baby Jesus

Roots band Golden Alphabet has managed to record a rustic psych folk album in the midst of Brooklyn. On Removable Baby Jesus the band's resident lyricist Tommy Cormier taps into his issues with religion, being raised in Tucson, AZ, a place where lots of people think that spelling God with a capital letter should be replaced by an all-caps version. On the upside - he was exposed to highly melodic country music and that is firmly embedded in his musical DNA. Over the years Golden Alphabet went through tons op lineups, but the current quintet has been played together since 2014. And since they are all multi-instrumentalists they can play musical chairs, donning different roles if a song calls for a slightly different approach.

Removable Baby Jesus is a happy-sad album, with witty tongue-in-cheek songs like Bucky Bronco and Wiggly Tornado (it must be a first to write a song from the perspective from the storm itself), sitting next to barely contained anger of being dragged to mass in Become Bright or getting really, really stoned in Sundays I Gave. It is quite fitting that they wrap things with a song about being tongue-tied in a one-on-one with Jesus himself in Nose To Nose and Toes To Toes. If anything religion spawned a great set of songs. Zealous preachers and bigots will beg to differ, but after all is said and done, it turns out that music will always be the higher (and real) power in the end.