Jason Ogden, the man driving the vehicle known as Penny Blacks has been restless while the 7-piece band chips away at their debut full-length album.  To combat the idle hands and overactive songwriting glands, Ogden has recorded a 5-song EP to tide us over until the fall release of the full-length album.  Gold Standards is Penny Blacks' second EP release, and it continues the tradition of capturing the mid-fi, bedroom-torch-song ethos that began when Ogden started posting home recordings on his MySpace several years ago; yet it does something more. The scope of these songs goes well beyond the isolation of a room, an apartment. There is a traveled maturity to songs like "Socorro" and "Chop Yourself..." that suggests a forlorn goodbye to something as well as a confident welcome.
 
"I like to think that, connotations and feelings aside, these are just catchy songs," Ogden says, "These songs represent an effort on my part to create something more classic, songcraft-wise. I have a tendency to be somewhat wordy, and sometimes my song structures just have to follow suit. For Gold Standards, I had to reel myself in here and there to keep these songs on track; I had to edit myself more than I have ever allowed before." This succinctness combined with Penny Blacks' gift for melody and mood makes Gold Standards a natural for repeat listens.
 
Gold Standards will be available on iTunes, CDBABY, Amazon.com, Rhapsody, bandcamp and at Penny Blacks gigs on April 26.
 
Want a sample? Check out the video for "Chop Yourself Into Little Pieces and Mail Yourself To New Brunswick, Canada for Immediate Reassembly" on YouTube!
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO7OKDFDy7A
 
Be sure to follow Penny Blacks on twitter to keep up to date on where you can purchase "Gold Standards" online and in person!
 
http://www.twitter.com/bitterbruisers