While many artists might choose to tease the prospective audience with such marketing lines as “the sound of tomorrow, today,” a better sonic soubriquet for what Coolonaut does is “the sound of yesterday, today.” And I mean that in the most positive and supportive sort of way. While this Australia -based Scottish expat certainly looks to 60’s psychedelic soundscape and moddish melody for inspiration, it is less an exercise in nostalgia and more the sound of someone writing new chapters for that scene.
So, Karma Smile is the best of both worlds, a taste of a time long past but also brought up to date, not least through the more robust production that the modern studio affords today’s music maker.
“Confabulation” sets out the stall, a squalling, spiralling riff driving complex beats, but harmony soaked and infectious, mining that decade’s sonic tropes and turning them into the building blocks for a sound that stands with a foot in both the then and the now, the what was and what will be again.
If “Be On The Right Side” has echoes of The Monkees, it is the sound of that band once they were unshackled from the TV machine and allowed to make music that matched their not inconsiderable sonic chops. The title track reflects an era when philosophical pop was a thing, when the innocence of the mainstream sound pushed into proggy pastures, and realized that this was the perfect platform for artists with something to say. But there is plenty of humour to be found here too, look at titles like “Boganville” and “Pebble Dash Heaven” and everything that they imply!
Coolonaut (excellent name by the way) is an expert at capturing these hallowed sounds and vibes without merely riding on the coattails of the past. This is not plagiarism, plundering, or pastiche, but the sound of a story that you remember being very fond of getting another day in the sun.
Groovy, baby!
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