march 14 • alternative library

The Alternative Library has become a mecca for diy all ages shows – last Friday’s “Goth” themed performance felt like a lost episode of MTV Unplugged.
The show began with Tyson Ballew and Caitlin Roberts casually sitting on the floor, serenading the crowd with “Our Last Day,” a mellow, introspective song off their album Moa in Response. The album has a slow tempo, indie-pop style featuring sorrowful lyrics like “We won’t ever be rediscovered / Our songs broadcast but they’re never heard / and our fate belongs to this earth / well that’s the best verse in the worst song / lays to rest that there will be no happy ending.”
Autococoon, Caitlin Roberts’ solo act, continued with the same nostalgic vibes, playing songs from her album Spirulina. She has a sea of experimental Irish laments, mixed with some alternative folk melodies, creating a unique sound but leaving her overall direction unclear.
“Sorry, we’re not very dance-y” the lead vocalist warns with a smile and the Montana band, Rose Gold begins to hypnotize the crowd. Within seconds the room was saturated with heavy riffs, emotional and somewhat confessional vocals all dancing on top of deep, sustained beats of the drum.
The first song to crawl through the room was “Ramsey’s Choice” – it was very melodically repetitive, in both a lyrical and musical sense. There was an impressive balancing act between gloomy pop punk melodies and emotion filled shrieking, all lined with the drone of the bass. Throughout the course of the show, the progression of songs became so hauntingly harmonic, that one quiet crowd member yelled,  “You’re so f*cking awesome!”, and that really sums up the feeling that a Rose Gold show will leave you with.
-Victoria Ayers