Such Gold are doing the pop-punk/melodic hardcore thing, and that's something you should know up front. Because, chances are, you're either getting a little tired of it, or tend to dismiss it altogether. Or maybe you just have a certain standard bands of these variety need to live up to. If your interest has remained even remote as this style's been run into the ground over the last decade, though, Stand Tall is highly worthy of your attention.

For starters, Such Gold just sounds enthusiastic as hell for the entire course of this 12-minute EP. They sound like they mean every lyric and note and are having a killer time singing and playing either. They've clearly studied the likes of Through Being Cool and This Time Next Year and lifted some of the best aspects from both, too, and it helps that the recording here stacks up with either of those records.

They keep a pretty steadily energetic and fast tempo for the whole thing, but their dynamics are well-formed for such a young band. You can hear it in the poppy gang vocal sing-along and able stop-starts of "You Always Know What's Best" and Ben Kotin's yelping angst in the best song here, "What's Left of You."

Such Gold come far short of the classics, but are noticeably ahead of the pack who have more national attention at the moment. But considering how early in the game they are, that's impressive, and as they ideally develop their sound further with an EP slated to be recorded soon, they might soon prove they have a TBC or TTNY in themselves to offer the world. Maybe the best melodic punk debut of sorts out of upstate NY since The Redder, The Better.

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Stand Tall EP