Gold-Bears

Are You Falling In Love? is the most obvious recent release by Slumberland trying to emulate the whole C86 scene and/or the Sarah Records roster. And as a result, there's nothing here that hasn't been done many times before. Your response is very likely going to depend on how many times you've heard it before. The pace is incredibly frenetic right from the start, and it takes seven songs before Gold-Bears consider slowing down even a little. They are also equally reticent about switching off their banks of effects pedals, meaning every number is drenched in fuzz and squeals of feedback. When they do dial it down and let the jangly guitars emerge it becomes apparent that they have a knack for a good tune, and their saving grace is that the songs are catchy, right down to the sing-along choruses. While it might be completely unoriginal to anyone who's heard Boyracer or 14 Iced Bears, it's an awful lot of fun and very hard not to like.