{"title":"Golden Apples","description":"\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eGolden Apples possess the rare ability to make music that’s at once familiar and elusive, instantly satisfying and also undeniably unique. On their self-titled sophomore album, the Philadelphia-based band have seamlessly combined the off-kilter catchiness of ‘90s college rock with dashes of dreamy shoegaze, scrappy bedroom pop, homespun psychedelia, and more. The result is a vibrant and eclectic sound that works in tandem with Edling’s agile lyrics, and an album that aims to capture the endless highs and lows of life without sanding down the complexities and contradictions–all done with humor, humanity, and most of all, hooks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eLed by songwriter Russell Edling, Golden Apples began as something more akin to a solo endeavor. The project started as his previous group, Cherry, was ending, and the pandemic was beginning. Edling hunkered down in relative solitude outside of Philadelphia and made Golden Apples’ 2021 debut LP, Shadowland, but it wasn’t long after that he began writing again. This time, however, he sought a very different creative process. “With the last record, I felt like everything was under the microscope of my vision and my abilities,” he explains. “This time I wanted the opposite, I wanted to go to a studio with musicians I trusted and just knock it out.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eEdling recruited an all-star lineup of Philadelphia’s best players–including drummer Pat Conaboy (Kite Party, Sun Organ, Spirit of the Beehive), bassist Tim Jordan (Kite Party, Sun Organ, Lowercase Roses), guitarist\/vocalist Mimi Gallagher (Nona, Eight, Cave People), and guitarist Matt Scheuermann (Lowercase Roses)–and convened for two weeks at The Bunk recording studio with engineer\/multi-instrumentalist Matt Schimelfenig (Gladie, Sun Organ, Three Man Cannon). “One of the nice things about Philly is that the music community is so intermingled and everyone collaborates,” says Edling (also of Kite Party, Lowercase Roses, and Cave People). “I’ve always been inspired by bands that felt like they were part of a creative network of people. I grew up in Northeastern Pennsylvania and we didn’t have a lot of that, so finding it always felt important to me.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThat cooperative spirit is palpable on Golden Apples, throughout which a crackling spontaneity accents Edling’s tightly written guitar pop. “I didn’t have the ability to be so precious about every little moment and I think that’s central to how it sounds,” says Edling. “I wanted to step away from the microscope.” There’s an organic collision of warmth and noise across the album’s ten song, 28-minute runtime: gentle acoustic guitar meets ripples of feedback and ‘90s alternative bombast intersects with jangle pop sweetness, all working together to recall everything from Yo La Tengo’s wide-ranging-yet-intimate indie to The Velvet Underground’s fractured version of elemental rock and roll songwriting. Opener “Good Times” begins as a feel-good sing along before devolving into a blown-out keyboard drone, immediately setting the album’s musical and lyrical tone. “I think I’m always writing about the existential trials of coexisting with depression,” Edling explains. “But with every record I make, I take a different stance with that relationship. This is the first time I’ve ever confronted that batch of feelings with some lightheartedness or a joke in my pocket. It’s sort of like ‘I see you, but I’m not afraid of you anymore.’”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eIt’s a sentiment best encapsulated by “Let Me Do My Thing,” an album standout with a laid back mood and a highly memorable chorus. “I wrote that song after having a depressive episode,” says Edling. “The whole idea was ‘Please understand that this is something I’m really feeling,’ but also to look at how silly the things that take me there can be. Sometimes it takes a joke to help me snap out of it.” Elsewhere on songs like the dreamily rocking “High School” and the psych-tinged “Grass,” Edling takes on the complexities of emotional evolution and even the Sisyphean absurdity of life itself, and then compacts them into surprisingly affirming songs that stick around long after their concise runtimes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eEdling’s knack for adding a wry wink to Golden Apples’ music never sacrifices the heart or emotional clarity of the songs, whether it’s the appreciation for a moment of unabashed joy on the fuzzed-out “Beam,” or grappling with feelings of betrayal on the hazy “Cosmic Candybar.” The record comes to a close with “Slime,” a dynamic stomp that seems tongue-in-cheek on the surface but packs a lyrical punch to match the driving stomp of the chorus. “I think sometimes if you’re depressed you can feel like you’ve been marked, like you have this condition or this situation–you’re covered in slime,” he says. “I’m always trying to find balance with the proximity to kitsch. Sometimes something that seems dumb can also be so compelling.” The track ends with Edling and his companions sharing a harmonized refrain, before he sings “It doesn’t matter to me” and the guitars drop out, leaving only a droning keyboard. The moment calls back to the ominous ending of “Good Times,” only now the buzzing note feels decidedly more hopeful.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"566932","title":"Golden Apples - Gloom","description":"","brand":"Lame-O Records","offers":[{"title":"EP - Black","offer_id":43015447216379,"sku":"653636","price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4087\/9867\/products\/v600_cherry_4a3e8796-cd28-4d56-a929-39a4befab925.jpg?v=1652468154"},{"product_id":"598497","title":"Golden Apples - Dumbness","description":"\u003cp\u003eCherry (now known as Golden Apples) is the new bedroom-pop project from Russell Edling, the ex-singer and songwriter of Kite Party. After that band ended, Edling put all of his creative forces into forming beautifully sparse pop songs inspired by the great early works of indie rock’s best songwriters. In 2016, Cherry signed to Lame-O Records, releasing their first ever 7” Gloom. Now with a full band lineup, Cherry released their debut LP Dumbness in September of 2017.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lame-O Records","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":43015450525947,"sku":"C-D-LELB","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4087\/9867\/products\/v600_Cherry_-_Dumbness_artwork_1a2d2a2f-0551-4bde-84d6-be0c4e59ecf1.jpg?v=1652468202"},{"product_id":"628294","title":"Golden Apples - Strong 7\"","description":"","brand":"Lame-O Records","offers":[{"title":"EP - Black","offer_id":43015452524795,"sku":"C-S-7EBV","price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4087\/9867\/products\/v600_Cherry_Strong_artwork_6853ff43-4ded-46ca-984f-6d91df7624ba.jpg?v=1652468232"},{"product_id":"704395","title":"Golden Apples - Shadowland","description":"","brand":"Lame-O Records","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":43018781884667,"sku":"Shadowland1","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4087\/9867\/products\/v600_Golden_Apples_-_Shadowland_artwork_beb108ea-f232-4921-86e8-e24054095600.jpg?v=1652468308"},{"product_id":"722527","title":"Golden Apples - Golden Apples","description":"","brand":"Lame-O Records","offers":[{"title":"Tape Cassette","offer_id":43015462093051,"sku":"GA-GA-GAC","price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4087\/9867\/products\/v600_GA_ST_web_4b16e232-58f3-4832-bfa7-8ae7ce771168.jpg?v=1652468343"},{"product_id":"golden-apples-bananasugarfire","title":"Golden Apples - Bananasugarfire","description":"\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eGolden Apples might currently be one of the best kept secrets in guitar music, but their new full-length, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBananasugarfire\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, is about to change that. The boldly titled album is an undeniable, kaleidoscopic blast of fuzzed out guitars, joyful songwriting, and vibrant production that’s as human as it is hooky. It’s exactly what a truly great indie rock album can be: fun yet fulfilling, inventive yet inviting, confident yet candid–music that lifts you up with melody, noise, and heart.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eArriving hot on the heels of 2021’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eShadowland \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eand 2022’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eGolden Apples\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBananasugarfire\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e continues Golden Apples’ prolific streak. Whereas \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eShadowland\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e was more of a solitary recording project of vocalist\/guitarist Russell Edling, and the self-titled involved a more spontaneous revolving door of collaborators, something definite and resolute is happening on \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBananasugarfire\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e: the collective has become collected, the band has arrived. Golden Apples’ line-up solidified last year into the combination of Edling, drummer Melissa Brain (Marge, Goshupon, Amanda X, Cave People, Yankee Bluff), bassist Matthew Scheuermann (Lowercase Roses, Petal), and Mimi Gallagher (Eight, Nona, Year of Glad, Cave People), and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBananasugarfire \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eis imbued with a tangible camaraderie that elevates the sum of its talented parts.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eRecorded at Metal Shop with Zack Robbins, The Bunk with Matt Schimelfenig, and at the home Edling and Gallagher share, the colorful, open hearted, and widescreen yet intimate \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBananasugarfire\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e feels like the most fully realized version of Golden Apples to date. “This record really feels like \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003ethe\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e band,” Edling explains. “My favorite parts of the album are where I can hear someone else’s idea taking form, an idea I never would have arrived at. I wanted to get the best of both worlds: to properly record with the band in the studio and then spend a bunch of time also tinkering around on my own like I did with the first record, but this time Mimi was there in the basement tinkering with me.” Gallagher’s role is a key element to the magic of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBananasugarfire\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e, providing dynamic guitarwork, sugary vocal interplay, and another keen ear to help hone the detailed recordings that make the album so rewarding on repeat listens.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBananasugarfire\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e also marks a shift in Edling’s lyrical approach. While previous releases found him swallowed up in existential doubt and bewilderment, there’s now an understanding that for all the intrinsic darkness of life, there is also a countering light–even if accessing it often takes hard earned perspective and persistence. “I just think in the past few years I’ve really come around to the idea that there’s real tangible power behind your emotions,” he explains. “If you go out in the world and put bad energy out there, I think it actually has an impact, and I think it works the opposite way, too. Being aware of your emotions and the way you carry yourself is sort of a responsibility.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eLike the previous two Golden Apples albums, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBananasugarfire\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e opens with a sub-two minute, quasi-introductory song that sets the stage for the record to come. “Anti-Ant Car” starts fittingly with Edling in Martin Newell-mode, a solitary jangling man surrounded by tape hiss–but then the band joins in and the world turns 3D through a steadily cresting melody that arrives at pure musical elation. “Guardstick” picks up that momentum and runs with it, all towering wall of fuzzed out guitars and shimmering production that somehow layers more and more impossibly catchy melodies on top of one another. The band sound huge, and Edling sounds fearless as he sings about the need for kindness in an increasingly callous world. “We’re in a moment where ‘not being corny’ is such a big piece of social capital, and I think that makes it hard to put yourself out there in such an unabashedly optimistic way,” he says. “There’s a part of me that’s afraid to say things that are this sort of openly positive in a song because that’s just not the type of thing that people respond to anymore. I always thought it was the most daring thing to confess sadness and depression in a song, but now I see it’s much more intimidating to express joy.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eOn tracks like “Waiting For A Cloud,” “Sugarfire,” and “Materia,” Golden Apples manage to utilize echoes of college rock greats like Yo La Tengo, Pixies, and Stereolab, but break free of mere homage by having personality to spare. The record feels like a musical patchwork, stitching together familiar influences in ways that result in something new. “Park (Rye)” highlights this with layered drum machines flourishes and interlocking guitar lines, sounding like some alternative universe where The Stone Roses wrote a song with Sparklehorse.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBananasugarfire\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e is one of the most jubilant sounding albums of the year, but it doesn’t simply dismiss the challenging parts of life. Growing older, the losses that come with the passing of time, and self-doubt are all there, but Golden Apples argue that if the good things are impermanent, then so too are the bad. “Sometimes it seems like people think it’s naive to be hopeful,” Edling says. “The disillusionment is ubiquitous in nearly every interaction we have, but there’s truth to it. Maybe this record is a coping mechanism, but I think you can be relatively nihilistic while also being kind and loving.” It’s this embrace of life’s messiness that makes \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBananasugarfire\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e feel so impactful: it’s not about blind positivity, it’s about a conscious effort to try even in the face of complexities that often seem overwhelming. True to its title, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBananasugarfire\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003e is unique, playful, memorable, and guaranteed to put a smile on your face. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lame-O Records","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":44793551388923,"sku":"LMO-099LP","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4087\/9867\/files\/GA_Bananasugarfire_cover_web.jpg?v=1694119682"},{"product_id":"copy-of-golden-apples-bananasugarfire-sweatshirt","title":"Golden Apples - Bananasugarfire Sweatshirt","description":"\u003cp\u003eWarm \u0026amp; cozy Bananasugarfire sweatshirt. Designed by Russell Edling of Golden Apples (and also all the pretty things designed at Lame-O).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lame-O Records","offers":[{"title":"Small","offer_id":44793554960635,"sku":null,"price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Medium","offer_id":44793554993403,"sku":null,"price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Large","offer_id":44793555026171,"sku":null,"price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"XL","offer_id":44793555058939,"sku":null,"price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"XXL","offer_id":44793555091707,"sku":null,"price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4087\/9867\/files\/GA_BSF_crewneck.jpg?v=1694492008"},{"product_id":"golden-apples-shooting-star","title":"Golden Apples - Shooting Star","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGolden Apples\u003c\/strong\u003e is a prolific group of musicians formed and heralded by singer and songwriter \u003cstrong\u003eRussell Edling\u003c\/strong\u003e. \u003cem\u003eShooting Star\u003c\/em\u003e, their fourth album, is a sprawling new work packed to the brim with playful eccentricities and dynamism, one that owes as much of its inspiration to mid-century folkies like Michael Hurley and Karen Dalton as it does to alt rock of the nineties like Yo La Tengo and Stereolab. The album is a constellation of influences, experiences, and reckonings–with the state of the world, with others, with creativity, and with oneself. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eShooting Star\u003c\/em\u003e follows \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/lameorecords.com\/products\/golden-apples-bananasugarfire\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eBananasugarfire\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e, Golden Apples \"relentlessly inspiring\" (\u003cem\u003ePaste\u003c\/em\u003e) 2023 release. This time around, Edling sought to deconstruct his creative process by centering collaboration instead of a more solitary pursuit in songwriting, even as personal matters made isolation a more natural instinct. He describes taking time to make notes of the ways, timing and forms in which songs came to him in the process of demoing the record, and regularly questioning if his approach was like that of “watching a pot of water boil” or waiting for a bolt of light to appear in the sky. No two songs were created in the same way. Instead of holing up in a recording studio, the creation of the record was formed by a patchwork of collaborations in a variety of recording locales, all which were later alchemized by mix engineer Matthew Schimelfenig. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnxiety and isolation go hand in hand with connection and elation on \u003cem\u003eShooting Star\u003c\/em\u003e, each sentiment harmonized by dreamy mellotron and static haze or raucous spurs of scrubby guitars and doubled vocals. Across the record’s twelve songs, Edling wrestles with the human experience with an almost holistic touch, with lyrics that feel both deeply considered and sometimes wonderfully offhand. Muscular, shimmery \"Noonday Demon\" is a track that gets its title from a book subtitled the \"atlas of depression\" that Edling says lives on his bedside table. He elaborates: \"'Noonday Demon' addresses the way anxiety and paranoia can make you sort of lose track of yourself and your identity - turning your world upside down and alienating you from the people around you at the same time.\" It’s accompanied by a video directed by Andrew Shearer. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcross the fuller swath of \u003cem\u003eShooting Star\u003c\/em\u003e, Edling’s lyricism volleys between gestural and impressionistic and cutting and confronting, softening with a tender romanticism on tracks that reference his life with partner and bandmate Mimi Gallagher. Even in the throes of the more difficult experiences that life has to offer, we still fall in love, plan weddings, make art, and Edling paints his romanticism with an acute awareness of the pitfalls of our shared humanity. In many ways, \u003cem\u003eShooting Star\u003c\/em\u003e is an appeal to the muse, a record of \"songs about writing songs\" born from Edling’s desire to trust his instincts despite the posturings of inner demons and creative roadblocks, and to celebrate the little wins along the way. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lame-O Records","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black Hole","offer_id":47272600764667,"sku":"LMO-120LP-c1","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4087\/9867\/files\/LMO-120_GA_SS_web_copy.jpg?v=1750280995"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4087\/9867\/collections\/GA_PROMO.jpg?v=1736216616","url":"https:\/\/lameorecords.com\/collections\/golden-apples.oembed?page=2","provider":"Lame-O Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}