The Golden Boys

Whiskey Flower (Emperor Jones)

Fed on moonshine and mushrooms, Canyon Lake quintet the Golden Boys set the summer on fire with their sophomore LP. Picking up where 2005 debut Scorpion Stomp #2 (Hook or Crook) left off, Whiskey Flower tightens the knot while letting loose a psychedelic Last Waltz Roky Erickson would be proud of. Matthew Hoopengardner’s steam-train opener “Yankee Dollar” shows off the Boys a lot wiser and a bit older, thanks to John Wesley Coleman’s hypnotic guitar and production values that make the debut now sound like a demo. With high tempos come the lows in slurring melancholy “Remember Georgia,” Ralph White collaboration “La La Birdie,” and old-school mindfuck closer “If I Can’t Hold You in My Arms,” further proof that the Boys remain Golden. Culminating in horn-blasting, Sid St. Onge-penned “Dolly’s Waltz,” Whiskey Flower takes the thrash out of the garage and displays it proudly on the front porch.

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This article appears in June 8 • 2007.

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