Not to be confused with a certain Jamican bobsleigh team comedy: Knoxville, Tennessee’s burgeoning indie-tripping outfit, Cool Runnings, cherry-pick from some of psychedelia and epic surf’s best riffs for their latest double A-side release.
An emphatic vehicle for the coalesce musicians Brandon Biondo and Forrest Ferguson – which grows into a full band for live dates – this familiar, redolent sounding ensemble progressively improve on every outing. With a reverential air of the Electric Prunes, sniff of Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah, and brush with OMD; they produce an atmospheric style of ethereal moving indie that makes harmonious musical stop-overs in far flung meadows.
The momentous – if not also languorous in its gradual build-up – ‘Fool Moon’ opens with a taut snare march and Arcade Fire bassline, which is joined by a New Order twanged hook and Gary Numan searing synth. Choral, almost cheubim, cooing vocals sigh folksy woeful succinct lines on love trysts under the moon light’ as eastern inspired rhapsodys and a stirring violin add layers of gravitas. Partnering track, ‘Rusk’, is the broodier counterpoint: a hazy beguilling raga built around a resonating, pulsing bassline and drifting psych ascetic drone – not a million miles away from The Soundcarriers, though a vast improvement.
Cool Runnings are far from original – their sound is a litany of well chosen references – yet they carve a personal relevence out of the recycled musical landscape, and record two of the years most emotive tracks.
www.coolrunnings.bandcamp.com/
Out Now
[Rating:4]
