Goldcure: Portuguese Prince

Thanks to cable TV, there will always be a market for bright, bland guitar music, the underground version of mainstream cheese that sounds just right over a driving scene or as background when a teen lead mopes on an unmade bed. That’s good news for Austin’s Goldcure because what they do is an entirely unremarkable brand of indie rock that makes their touchstones — Spoon and Arcade Fire — look like mavericks. Just check out the semi-urgent jangle of “Too Long”, as the guitarist desperately tries to inject tension into a song without hooks, or the white boy funkah-ness of the title track that is more Spin Doctors than Spoon. It’s tempting to make a punchline out of next-to-closer “Make It Stop”, but damn, it’s the only interesting thing on the album, with its feathery guitar riffs and angsty pushing drums. And, you know the scene where the girl sits at her make-up mirror and a tear slowly works its way down her cheek? It’d be perfect.