Gold Class Drum review – muscular and convincing, but a little familiar

Melbourne's Gold Class mine a sound that was very much in vogue more than a decade ago: the windswept, brooding strain of post-punk offered by the likes of Interpol, The National and Editors, which was itself, of course, a reanimation of old ghosts. As such, there's nothing new about the songs on their second album, muscular and convincingly delivered as they are, except perhaps the personal politics of frontman Adam Curley. It's a break-up album that was written not just as a message of defiance and hope to himself, but also to fellow "queer kids", as he puts it, inspired by countless private tragedies as well as his own heartbreak. Certainly, by the time he howls "I've come so far so I can be new" towards the end of the excellent closing track, Lux, the sense of healing and regeneration is palpable. These songs will resonate. goldclassmusic.com