Mold the Gold

With a name like Pink Nasty, it's probably not too surprising that the listener might expect something out of the ordinary. Learning that her brother Black Nasty, the producer of Mold the Gold, is a provocative rapper, only deepens this impression. While sonically intriguing, the album starts rather sluggishly, with Pink Nasty preferring rather slow- to medium-tempos on "I Don't Know," "BTK Blues," and "Napoleon Complex." On these songs she skirts familiar singer/songwriter material, though the arrangements and vocal processing create an open, bright soundscape. After the pithy, odd "Street Smart," however, Nasty kicks out the jams on "Dirty Soap," a hard rocking guitar feast that would've made a good opener. Vocally, her range of styles is quite broad, from the soft, melodic touch on "Golden Smoke" to the more abrasive rock of "Dirty Soap" to the pop-grounded "Take It Back." Yes, this variety of styles makes Mold the Gold an eclectic album, and a listener may find him or herself asking, "Who is the real Pink Nasty?" The answer seems to be an eclectic musician-singer who didn't want to make yet another typical singer/songwriter album, and for that, the listener should be thankful. The production and arrangements also do a good job of giving the material, no matter how disparate, a similar feel. A lyric sheet would have been nice, along with a breakdown of contributors, but neither of these items will prevent listeners from enjoying the music on Mold the Gold. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., Rovi