In time everyone of us has to grow up, throw away the cheeky attitude, the cute one-liners, the endlessly cycling riffs, the cheesy non de plumes, the subtle as a brick innuendo and get down to crafting something truly unique for ourselves – and sure enough – The Donna’s latest offering sees a maturation of the frenetic two-minute power-pop blitz and a move toward a more complex, more fully-dimensional lyrical and sonic approach. The chord-changes are more frequent, more unpredictable and the guitar licks wrestle with occasional soul. They’ve also outgrown the dutiful pseudonyms. But it’s not such a departure as to make anyone mistake their identity. What you do have, courtesy of producer Butch Walker, is a more traditional, natural and garagey sound. The earthy drum and bass intro to ‘Friends Like Mine’ stutters in the direction of the Kings Of Leon whilst ‘Fall Behind Me’ makes references to everyone from Alice Cooper to The Vines. And, let it be said, tracks like ‘Is That All You’ve Got For Me’ finally see the band ploughing way beyond the feckless hearsay and narrow thrust of sexual bravado to come up with something resembling hard experience. Title track ‘Gold Medal’ even takes this one step further and reveals something as close to disappointment and contrition as you’re likely to get from four dedicated rock chanteuses.
It’s still someway short of being a significant musical intervention but it hovers pleasingly around breaking new ground. For the girls, at least.