There’s a new glint coming up from the DIY underground. It’s “Shiny Gold,” the latest single by Israeli one-person project Alternative Virtues, drops as a shining example of unadulterated emotion and gritty alternative rock talent. Fronted by singer-songwriter Alon Zilber, a former member of the post-punk cult act The Freaks, this sparkling outing transforms introspection into an anthemic slow sizzle.
Starting from the opening guitar textures, “Shiny Gold” is like walking into a dim room as the light gradually grows brighter. One layer at a time, Alternative Virtues constructs a space teeming with openness and grit, which seamlessly melds his indie rock origins with rough-edged elegance. Think early Radiohead heartache meets the D.I.Y. soul of Guided by Voices, intimate yet expansive, fragile yet solidly built. It has a swinging urgency in a confined space. Alternative Virtues singing is unpolished around the edges, cutting right through like a late-night conversation you never thought would amount to much. The lyrics are reflective yet never cryptic. There’s a feeling of emotional excavation here, hunting for meaning beneath the surface, an exploration of value and façade, perhaps. And when that chorus does land, it’s modest but practical, a wash of melodic payoff that doesn’t loudly demand attention but commands it.
What makes “Shiny Gold” so compelling, however, is its homemade quality. Every sound has a tactile feel. You hear the room. You hear the hands. And in an age of overproduction, this naked honesty is a breath of fresh, if slightly musky, air.