While we are letting go of the old to ring in the new, I have a new artist and EP for you to start 2017 fresh. Doc Robinson are longtime friends and new collaborators, Jon Elliot of The Floorwalkers and Nick D’Andrea of Nick D’ and The Believers . Combining their respective roots in funk-pop, they have created the spright, surf-pop sounds of Golden Daze: a perfect record for a New Year’s play.
From its first, self-titled track, in Golden Daze you know we are about to say goodbye to the old. The song “Golden Daze” is about letting go of the weighted nostalgia of old memories. As Elliot repeatedly sings “We can never go back there!” you feel the mutual sadness/ acceptance that the past is the past.When asked by Impose Magazine about the song’s meaning Nick D’Andrea said,
“We wrote ‘Golden Daze‘ in homage to the golden moments of our youth; chopping it up, getting into trouble, smoking weed out of apple cores, playing with fireworks, listening to bone thugs in the suburbs, hanging out with the ‘bad kids.’ The song is like driving away from childhood, looking in the rear-view mirror with a smirk on your face and a tear in your eye. It’s very much a tribute to dear ones who we’ve lost along the way, and to the feeling that life can never be so simple and fun again.”
You can hear the joy of the past with the infectious clapping and guitar strums that flow through the song in the same way our youthful days flow in our mind. Yet, what is the future if not a potential past to be celebrated, as well. Time is fluid and the past you celebrate was once a future you worried over. Thus, Doc Robinson may feel down to say goodbye to their youths, but they make being an adult still sound fun and hopeful in their next tracks, while also an opportunity to mature and grow for the better.
“It’s Over” is a solidification that Doc Robinson’s funk-pop origins have been exchanged for a more electro/ surf pop beat. They sound like a futuristic, beach duo, where holograms and ocean waves have gathered to hear their music. The subtle futurism of their pop helps to ease the emotionality of their lyrics, like in saying goodbye to a relationship. Following through with the “letting go” sentiment of Golden Daze, Doc Robinson are eager to shed the spiritual chains the past can cast over a person whom either wants or needs to look forward, especially for a “New Day”. With a groovy bass, Elliott’s vocals are casual, which what makes them delectable. He has a way of singing his songs like a first-person narrative, which makes the listener feel as if they are looking at the world from either his or the song’s protagonist’s eyes. While many songs provide an emotional bridge between artist and listener, Doc Robinson give a mind ladder for their sonic spectators to climb and see life according to them. The harmonies of “New Day” give it a multi-layered freshness like, the opportunity of a new relationship, but if the “old you” is never gone, can you truly experience something new, which is why Doc Robinson go back to nostalgia in “Undone”.
Doc Robinson’s “Undone” sums up perfectly every pop song written for one’s longing of an ex-lover; from the looking through at old pictures or the tumultuous question, “Should I call them?”. Sonically, it sounds like the radio song that comes on during a cloudy day, and you sing to your fullest dedication to an ex you deem “the one that got away”.The irony of making “Undone” their final song is that “Golden Daze” was all about letting go, but “Undone” shows you can never let the past go fully, especially in terms of people. With soft strings and Elliott’s tender, yearning vocals, Doc Robinson etch out the reason you cannot release the past it because when you let go of it, you let go of its people, as well.
Every best, childhood memory is shared. Whether its with your parents, an old friend, or an ex-lover, they are persons of love and joy that defined your present and your future. While many say life is molded according to experiences, I say experiences are molded according to relationships. How you feel about others and yourself is a relationship, and Doc Robinson’s Golden Daze inadvertently reveals this through wavy synths and lyrics that exemplify letting go of the people you once called your own is near impossible because they showed you your happiest self. Yet, in the same way, Doc Robinsons’ members joined from other bands and rhythms, you will find another person to make a different, wondrous melody. For More Information on Doc Robinson And To Buy Golden Daze Click Here.
