Album Review
Butch Walker has a gift for making a familiar rock song feel personal. On Stay Gold, the ringing guitars, warm melodies and big choruses come easily, but there is also a sense of looking back and trying to hold on to something worth keeping. I like how the album makes room for that feeling without letting it weigh down the music. These songs have plenty of life in them, even when the people inside them sound a little worn out.
The title track gets things moving with a strong guitar sound and a chorus that invites you to turn it up. There are touches of Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen in the album's mix of everyday stories and open-road rock, although Walker's pop instincts keep the songs compact and approachable. He knows when to let a melody do the work. That is one of the things I appreciate most here: the songs rarely need much time to make an impression.
“East Coast Girl” is a good example of that balance, moving from conversational verses into a chorus with a welcome lift. The spoken delivery may take a little getting used to, but it gives the song a personality of its own. “Wilder in the Heart” is another highlight. There is a warmth to its melody that suits the feeling of wanting to be close to someone, and Walker lets the emotion come through without pushing too hard.
“Ludlow Expectations” brings some of the album's most satisfying energy, while “Descending” offers a quieter change of pace. Ashley Monroe's voice works beautifully alongside Walker's, giving the duet a tenderness that the louder songs cannot quite reach. For me, it is one of the strongest moments on the record. The arrangement leaves room for both singers, and the feeling stays with you after the song ends.
The second half has its share of good melodies, too. “Spark:Lost” gives Walker another opportunity to bring together a big chorus and expressive guitar playing, and “Record Store” makes an appropriate closing thought for an album with so much affection for the music of the past. I appreciate the way that affection runs through Stay Gold. You can hear the influences, but you can also hear someone enjoying the process of turning them into his own songs.
A few tracks leave less of an impression, and some of the arrangements lean a little too comfortably on familiar rock patterns. I would have liked another surprise or two along the way. Still, Stay Gold is a good record with several songs worth coming back to. Walker's strongest melodies and the warmth of his delivery give it more staying power than its familiar sound might first suggest. It is an easy album to enjoy, and its best moments offer something more than a pleasant reminder of the records that helped shape it.
