Release Date: Oct 12, 2004
Genre(s): Indie, Rap
Record label: Kill Rock Stars
Music Critic Score
How the Music Critic Score works
Gold Chains showed himself marginally willing to break out of the ghetto of jokey underground rap (MC Paul Barman, Har Mar Superstar) with his first release for Kill Rock Stars. A collaborative LP with Sue Cie (aka Sue Costabile), it's the logical extension of the duo's "Let's Get It On," the dynamic closer to Gold Chains' 2003 LP, Young Miss America. When the World Was Our Friend constitutes an intriguing display of music-making with a point; the title may be a clue that there are political and social ambitions in this record.
Mock-hop maverick Topher Lafata, a.k.a. Gold Chains, is trying to expand his palette. The Bay Area informed his early electro/rap adventures, but these days his style seems less geographically grounded. Teaming up with fellow Californian Sue Cie as well as pals Kit Clayton and Vladislav Delay, Gold Chains offers When the World Was Our Friend, an irreverent sprint through UK-style club music and playful street rap.