L.A.-based collective Fool's Gold sound like what would have happened if Beirut had gone for a tropical motif instead of an Eastern European folk one. Fool's Gold frontman Luke Top, who also just put out a warm solo album, Friends, three months ago, shares Zach Condon's Morrissey-inspired warbling and love of sweeping orchestrations of traditional instruments&mdashin this case drawn from African styles combined with Western pop conventions.

The resulting sound is as bright as the hot pink-and-cerulean cover art. It's full of horn, string and guitar hooks emphasized with flourishes from skinned drums, goat-toe rattles and banana bells. All of the African influences and Latin sounds may persuade you that the foreign language of the lyrics is a weird dialect of Portuguese or something, but Top is actually singing in Hebrew. The bassist/singer was born in Tel Aviv and Fool's Gold features his childhood friend from Israel, Amir Kenan, on keys in addition to a motley ensemble of other musician friends, including Jimmy Vincent and Matt Popeiluch from Foreign Born, ex-We Are Scientists drummer Michael Tapper and Argentinean pop singer Erica Garcia (just to name a few). Though it was recorded in two days, Fool's Gold has been gestating for three years—maybe that's how long it takes to travel the continents collecting exotic instruments.

Track Listing For Fool's Gold:
01. Surprise Hotel
02. Nadine
03. Ha Dvash
04. The World Is All There Is
05. Poseidon
06. Yam Lo Moshech
07. Night Dancing
08. Momentary Shelter

www.myspace.com/foolsgold

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