Ian Eagleson and Alex Minoff of the DC-area rock band Golden have never resorted to convention. With help from Trans Am bassist Philip Manley and Royal Truxster Jon Theodore, their wildly inventive albums slip back and forth between futuristic funk, unhinged blues and math-y nonsense. But as strange and rewardingly unfocused as their previous work has been, Eagleson and Minoff have never tackled the sort of exoticism and striking conscientiousness of their latest venture as Extra Golden.
Ok-Oyot System, Extra Golden’s debut on Thrill Jockey, couples American rock with benga music—a guitar-centric style of upbeat Afropop that gets by on cartwheeling melodies and springing syncopation. But, even Eagleson will admit, the style’s ostensible cheer seems a strange counterpoint to the squalor in which it’s created.
“Kenya is a great place,” says Eagleson, whose doctoral thesis work landed him in a position to collaborate with some of the area’s most gifted musicians. “But it’s a pretty cutthroat place. Especially Nairobi. There’s a lot of hustling going on. It’s hard to avoid it. I definitely didn’t shelter myself from it; I got more than I bargained for.”
The record’s title-phrase “Ok-Oyot” (roughly translated to “it isn’t easy”) takes on new meaning when Eagleson describes the struggles the band has gone through in the past year. Only a few short months after they recorded the album, guitarist Otieno Jagwasi succumbed to liver disease, complicated by H.I.V.
What’s more, during the recording of Ok-Oyot System, Extra Golden—rounded out by seasoned benga drummer Onyango Wuod Omari—almost wound up behind bars. Eagleson himself still doesn’t understand the incident, but when a local man stopped by their rehearsal space with drugs, a team of detectives followed shortly behind.
“For about three hours we had to negotiate with these guys to stay out of jail. It was basically a payoff,” says Eagleson. “I’m not saying we’re trying to make a statement with the record. But it’s so easy living in the U.S.”
While Eagleson might suggest that social commentary isn’t Extra Golden’s intent, these songs are infinitely useful. Their place of origin and the story they tell force American listeners to confront their position of privilege and to marvel at the strength and will of musicians making beautiful music under difficult circumstances.
September 18. Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St. (betw. Astor Place & E. 4th St.), 212-254-1263; 9:30, $15. (September 19 at Nothsix).
