Photo by Bryan Lasky

“An Early Translation of a Later Work” has some of the realest weird Western Massachusetts vibrations flowing through its air in the best way. Since branching out from the post-hardcore and shoegaze static of his previous bands Ampere and Kindling, Stephen Pierce, as Gold Dust, has embraced the immediate surroundings of the strange folk inspo within overlooked corners which the rough gem of the state has to offer. The first single from their third studio effort, In the Shade of the Living Light, comes alive wholly as more than just him peering into unknowns on his own accord as was case on his 2021 eponymous and 2022’s The Late Great Gold Dust, however. This is the sound of a band in spiritual communion with everything, now as a solidified four-piece featuring the local creative hands of guitarist Ally Einbinder, formerly of Potty Mouth, drummer Adam Reid, also of Nanny, and the Van Pelt’s Sean Green on bass. The dustered shoegaze subtleties of past work still seep into the listen’s tinted sunlight, but it’s the swirl of the area’s forever-hippie psychedelia and natural indie rock crunch that emboss lines like, “It’s like a fourth-hand rewrite of your favorite poem / A kaleidoscopic mess / Or a rearrangement of a mountain range / A quarry carved to dust” with the region’s sonic topography. And that electric sitar you hear ripping through the skyline toward the end? That’s courtesy of one J Mascis letting his freak scene flag flail high for all to see. Now that’s a jam.

Gold Dust’s In the Shade of the Living Light will be self-released May 16th.