ALBUM REVIEW: Never Look Back – Goldfinger

Of all of the bands to emerge from the third-wave ska movement back in the mid 90s, very few seem to have had the longevity of Los Angeles’ GOLDFINGER. Led by frontman/guitarist-turned-mega-producer John Feldmann, the band initially made a huge impact with early singles such as Here In Your Bedroom and Superman likely burned into the memories of an entire generation of punk fans (the latter becoming iconic thanks to inclusion in the first Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video game).

By the time the early 2000s began to roll around, the band would go on to shed much of the ska basis of their earlier sound, becoming more of a straight-up punk band on records like Open Your Eyes and Disconnection Notice. 2017 however would see GOLDFINGER returning from an almost decade-long studio absence with an entirely new ‘supergroup’ lineup including the likes of MXPX’s Mike Herrera, STORY OF THE YEAR bassist Phillip Sneed and BLINK-182’s Travis Barker for the decently-received The Knife, and a return back towards the sound of their classic material, but this would also be accompanied by suggestions from Feldman that the band may no longer release albums past that point. Fans needn’t have worried though, as with a mere two-week warning, the band have now surprise-announced and subsequently released their eighth studio album, Never Look Back.

Right out of the gate, the wiry blast of guitar and thunderous blast of drums that launch opening track Infinite suggests that this is to be yet another of the punkier GOLDFINGER records, but that’s not exactly the case. Whilst songs like Cannonball and the brilliant sub-two-minute Nothing To Me do indeed rattle along with a livewire punk energy buoying their complete earworm choruses, there’s still plenty of variance on display across the record’s 34 minutes. On the side of throwback material, The City and California On My Mind both see the band employing blasts of horns in a laid-back, almost SUBLIME-evoking manner while Careful What You Wish For sees Feldman joined by Monique Powell of fellow 90s ska-punks SAVE FERRIS for an effective and spirited duet that certainly ranks as one of the album’s stronger moments.

Of course, not everything works as well as you get the feeling the band probably thinks it does; Dumb very much lives up to that name thanks to a laughably awful hook of ‘everybody else is dumb, except you/You make my heart go boom, boom boom’, but it’s probably the sole properly weak point on an otherwise surprisingly solid album, and immediately followed-up by the far better synth-inflected punch of closing number Standing On The Beach helping end the record on a relative high. Feldmann‘s production, often a source of contention amongst certain sections of the rock community for, also seems to fare well across the runtime of Never Look Back, with the frontman deftly managing to give every incorporated element of the modern GOLDFINGER sound the space it needs, and without leaving the heavier moments feeling particularly neutered, as is sometimes a criticism levied against him.

Given their relative status in 2020, as well as Feldmann’s day job producing what feels like just about every big pop-punk band on the planet these days, you’d be forgiven for assuming that Never Look Back could very much have ended up being a throwaway record from GOLDFINGER. Luckily, that’s very much not the case though, and the final result is a joyous release that, while not perfect, manages to both throw back to the band’s classic days and still avoiding sounding overly dated or tired. Managing to not outstay its welcome thanks to a generally tight selection of catchy upbeat songs and a focused runtime, Never Look Back is a second home-run in a row for GOLDFINGER, and one fans of the anything pop-punk, ska-based or otherwise, are sure to find enjoyment in.

Rating: 8/10

Never Look Back is set for release on December 4th via Big Noise. 

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