Chicago's Golden Birthday opens its Blue Island LP with a burst of lover's rock that aims for a deeper connection than the surface attraction. The astral sentiment is so brilliant, it's hard to believe it's not been written before: same aura. Not too trite or hippy, thanks to the bliss-enducing guitar riff, “Same Aura” casts a glow that permeates the duration of the record. Our comments section is a fine place to dispute this, but for us the title and aphorism of “Same Aura” is one of the best we've heard in pop musis since Yo La Tengo offered: I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One.
It only gets better when founder and singer Ryan Sullivan attempts a shakey falsetto croon of the refrain, that he probably knows is well out of his range and sounds nothing like Prince, but we get that confirmation in his follow-up yelp.
Golden Birthday's Blue Island is out June 26 on Rainbow Body.
