Album Mini-review: Cool Ghouls — Animal Races
File next to: Moby Grape, The Byrds, Mystery Lights
The name should be your first clue: San Francisco’s Cool Ghouls are unabashed acolytes for rock’s bygone garage-psychedelia era. What sets them apart from similarly retro acts is their well-honed ability to craft earworms: those tunes that stick in the listener’s head like bubblegum on a shoe. Hypnotic and (by pop standard) lengthy guitar solos fit snugly into catchy, chiming rock compositions. Engaging instrumentalists, they also excel at vocal harmonies. They’re not new to the approach, either: Animal Races is their fifth release, following an EP, a cassette, and two full-length albums. Rather than trying to sound like somebody else, Cool Ghouls create original music that expertly conjures the past. In fact – since the past really isn’t what it used to be – with the benefit of a half-century’s perspective on the style, they sometimes improve upon the approach of 1960s jangle-rockers.
About the Author
Bill Kopp
With a background in marketing and advertising, Bill Kopp got his professional start writing for Trouser Press. After a stint as Editor-in-chief for a national music magazine, Bill launched Musoscribe in 2009, and has published new content every business day since then (and every single day since 2018). The interviews, essays, and reviews on Musoscribe reflect Bill's keen interest in American musical forms, most notably rock, jazz, and soul. His work features a special emphasis on reissues and vinyl. Bill's work also appears in many other outlets both online and in print. He also researches and authors liner notes for album reissues -- more than 30 to date -- and co-produced a reissue of jazz legend Julian "Cannonball" Adderley's final album. His first book, Reinventing Pink Floyd was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2018, and in paperback in 2019. His second book, Disturbing the Peace: 415 Records and the Rise of New Wave, will be published in 2021 by HoZac Books.