Having honed their act through tireless performances and ample roadwork, “Purple Girlfriend” finds The Goldstars at the top of their musical game. Bassist and vocalist Sal is at his primal, swaggering best on revved-up cuts like ‘DMV’ and ‘All About You’ as well as their slash and burn cover of The Sparkles’ classic ‘No Friend of Mine’. Goodtime’s drums tumble like runaway thunder on crucial cuts like the tremolo-soaked ‘One Plus One’ and Sal’s hilariously bitter ‘Angry Eyes’. Guitarist Dag Juhlin steps up to the microphone for a pair of numbers — the caffeinated Stones riff-o-rama of ‘Fire’ and the album’s most blatant and engaging musical departure, the muscular West Coast psychedelia of ‘Go Baby Go’. And his moaning guitar squall adds a suitably nightmarish accent to the instrumental title track. Through it all is the amped-up keyboard work of band co-founder Skipper. Whether he’s rolling through a nasty, Farfisa-laden blues solo in ‘Always Late’ or channeling an after-hours Ramsey Lewis in the band’s stunning reworking of the Mel Torme-sung chestnut, ‘Comin’ Home Baby’ it’s Skipper’s handiwork that adds the right touch of garage grit to every track.
