Guilty pleasures stand test of time
Golden Earring is among my guilty pleasures.
Anybody who collects records will understand. Few people understand the object of the guilty pleasure or sympathize. The act makes music that speaks somehow in a way that the collector of the guilty pleasure assumes only he knows. A guilty pleasure is just that: The obsessive enjoys something he knows isn’t hip or long ago has fallen out of favour.
As not only a music reporter but a record collector, I’m shocked by how many other guilty pleasures I can name ... but won’t.
For now, I’m confessing that I like Golden Earring.
Keeping up with the band hasn’t been easy, as it hasn’t had a North American record release since, 1991’s Bloody Buccaneers.
In its 50 years, the band has added and subtracted a few members, flirted with progressive rock, fusion rock, synthesizers, some misguided production styles, have gone unplugged, and released side or solo projects, but essentially remained a quartet.
A few months ago, Golden Earring released a new album, Tits And Ass. It isn’t a politically correct title, but likely no one will forget it. Like most albums since Bloody Buccaneers, there are a few great tracks such as the one-two-three punch of Identical, LittleTime Bomb and Cool As It Gets, which leads off the album.
The curious thing about the title is why now, when the members are grizzled 60 plus years old? It suggests leering dirty old men but it also summarizes the band’s undercurrent of decadence and sleaze since the Moontan album and its Radar Love. If Golden Earring regards itself as a contemporary of The Rolling Stones, the title signifies the band is still in the race. Still vital. Still a guilty pleasure.