Review / 200 Words Or Less
Golden City
Golden City

Magic Bullet (2009) Jason

Golden City – Golden City cover artwork
Golden City – Golden City — Magic Bullet, 2009

This eight-song EP is completely and utterly awesome. I really wasn't expecting much from former Christie Front Drive guitar player Eric Richter since last I heard he was in the coma-inducing Antarctic. However, Golden City is just great. I'm having a hard time expressing just great these eight songs really are, but I'm going to try, really, I am.

Imagine if you will, eight songs of super catchy poppy indie rock with shimmering guitars playing simple riffs with more hooks that a Peter Pan convention. If you need band influences, think of Christie Front trying to write the best Promise Ring pop song while trying to recreate Jimmy Eat World's Static Prevails and you get just a hint of the greatness that's going on this self-titled debut EP by Golden City.

This was probably the biggest surprise to hit my review box all year and surely will by on my top 25 by year's end. Simply awesome.

9.5 / 10Jason • October 6, 2009

Golden City – Golden City cover artwork
Golden City – Golden City — Magic Bullet, 2009

Recently-posted album reviews

Tigers Jaw

Lost on You
Hopeless (2026)

Tigers Jaw was formed in 2005 in Scranton, PA by high school friends. After a brief hiatus in 2013, the band is once again carefully crafting and delivering a sound that is equal parts upbeat angst and mellow moodiness. The current lineup, consisting of Ben Walsh (guitar, vocals), Brianna Collins (keys, vocals), Mark Lebiecki (guitar), Colin Gorman (bass), and Teddy … Read more

N.E. Vains

Running Down Pylons
Big Neck Records (2025)

N.E. Vains’ Running Down Pylons delivers that kind of glorious, basement-level destruction. You know, back in the ’70s when every basement had those flimsy swinging room-dividing doors, and your skinny 130-pound frame suddenly ripped them clean off the hinges in a fit of imagined superhuman strength? The day you went from sand-kicked weakling to full Charles Atlas mail-order muscle miracle? … Read more

Poison The Well

Peace In Place
Sharptone (2026)

There’s no way to talk about Peace In Place without acknowledging the shadow it steps out from. Poison the Well isn’t just another reunited band dusting off an old name. They’re literally architects of the genre. The Opposite of December… A Season of Separation didn’t just help define metalcore, it rewired how heaviness and vulnerability could coexist. And honestly, is … Read more