The Goldy LockS Band learn a hard lesson in love in their latest single I Didn’t Know — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
They say knowing is half the battle; what they don’t tell you is that it’s only the first half, and maybe not even the hardest half either. On their new single, these Nashville crossover rockers capture that moment when you realize you’ve been hoodwinked — and must acknowledge not only the time you’ve wasted on a lie but the shadow of uncertainty it’s cast across your future.
The song is a portrait of betrayal rendered in stark, snapshot-like images: a rainy bus stop, a dead cell phone, a “missing ring” that turned into a “nasty thing.” Somebody’s done somebody wrong, all right, and the song couldn’t do a better job of laying out just how much of a cause for despair that is:
“I didn’t know a missing ring
Could turn into a nasty thing
I didn’t ask he didn’t tell
But fire and ice don’t mix so well
I didn’t know how quick that this would fold
I didn’t know
And our love could grow so cold.”
Which begs the nagging question: Now what? The thought is left deliberately hanging, but there’s nothing indecisive about the music itself. I Didn’t Know makes a typically exhilarating addition to the band’s catalog of full-bodied, eminently commercial bangers, with a pointedly askew, Smooth Criminal-type crush groove that’ll bring you to your fee and keep you on your toes, just like its disillusioned protagonist.
Giving its tears of heartbreak a little extra sting, the track features contributions from hardcore country artist (and wrestler) Mickie James Aldis, plus Clay “Uncle Snap” Sharpe and Brian Andrew “Rooster” King of country rappers The Lacs. It was almost fated that Aldis and Locks would team up for a song someday, since the latter has been a wrestling commentator, a manager and participant in her own right.
“I can’t believe it’s taken so long for Goldy Locks and I to rock out together!” Aldis says. “She’s a force to be reckoned with and brings so much passion to everything she does. This was such a rockin’ blend of two worlds colliding, and I think it turned out pretty magical!”
The artistic alchemy The Goldy lockS Band engages in goes beyond simply mixing harder-hitting sounds with elements like country. Their entire process is a study in creative improvisation, with guitarist Johnny Oro laying down riffs on the tour bus and at sound checks, just so Locks can later put words and melodies to them during workouts at the gym. That work in progress gets sent to drummer Rod Saylor so he can bash out parts in his home studio, and then all the way to Brazil, home base of bassist Wandley Bala.
A circuitous way to operate, to be sure, but so far, it’s paid off handsomely: The outfit’s deep repertoire has made them a top concert draw as both a headliner and an opener for heavyweights like Nickelback, Stevie Nicks and Maroon 5, and they’ve sold thousands of albums over the years. They’ll be adding to that tally with a new, as-yet-untitled album in the months ahead.
Check out I Didn’t Know below and learn more about Goldy LockS on their website, Facebook and Instagram.
