Golden Summer's first track, "Summer", is witty in its own special sort of way. An acoustic guitar is gently strummed over a muted sample of a running sprinkler system -- you know, the sort of sprinklers that run full steam ahead on any given golden summer day.

Don't let this song fool you. The next begins like it could possibly be a Sex Pistols cover -- very hard, very rocking. It tapers out into a mixture of screamed/sung vocals and a jazzy guitar and bass line. There's also that background-clapping thing, which reminds me of a Southern Baptist Church in July. Could this be the influence of friends The Make Up?

As an interesting side note for music snobs everywhere: Michelle Mae of The Make Up is credited with the CD booklet's photography. In other indie news, Golden is a super group of sorts. The most obvious link is with Trans Am, though members of Golden have also been associated with Royal Trux and Six Finger Satellite. All these musical influences shine through on the disc, giving Golden Summer a Jacob's Coat of Many Musical Colors feel.

Once the funk gets started, it never really stops. It reaches its climax on the fourth track (which has a 12-word title) -- which is not to say that the rest of Golden Summer is a downward spiral, but it never gets quite as funky, sloppy and groovin' again.

If Golden were in the summer music Olympics, they might not win a gold medal -- but I could see them easily bringing home the bronze.