Devilishly crafted and scarily melodic, GOLD BRICK is Langfords third solo album and the proper follow-up to 1998s Skull Orchard. It finds him back with ROIR, the pioneering New York label that released The Mekons classic New York album in the late 80s. Collaborating with a band that includes Pine Valley Cosmonauts John Rice & Pat Brennan, Waco Brother Alan Doughty, Jean Cook and Dan Massey, this is probably Langfords most consistent and coherent recording to date. While 2004s ALL THE FAME OF LOFTY DEEDS (Bloodshot) took about a week to record and was described as "an Alt-Country Ziggy Stardust" GOLD BRICK is a far more lush & expansive project that draws parallels between the bloody birth of America and the seismic shifts of todays globalization. Sub-titled LIES OF THE GREAT EXPLORERS and COLUMBUS AT GUANTANAMO BAY, its just as much about America and its way of life as it is about Langfords own search for community within those bounds. Jon taps into universal themes of exile, exploitation & extremism by observing and participating in quintessentially American activities as a Welsh expatriatefrom the strip joint to the strip mall and every bar in between. He even has balls enough to cover Procol Harums classic "A Salty Dog." The albums closing track "Lost In America" was written for National Public Radios THIS AMERICAN LIFE and features members of ONE-DAY BAND, the ensemble Langford put together from the Chicago Readers Musicians Wanted ads to record Elton Johns "Rocket Man" for the shows infamous "Classifieds" episode.