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Looking backward for one’s musical inspiration (and\/or sound) is not a new approach. Countless bands and solo artists have built careers out of recreating a style that has come and gone, and quite a few of them have won critical and even commercial success for their efforts. But more often than not, when this approach is employed, the results manifest themselves as overly studied: they may impress aficionados of the style, but they fail to offer much in the way of anything new or exciting.<\/p>\n
What that means is that when an act that creates a pastiche of an old style comes along and does manage to be new and exciting, it’s a rare thing. And that is what has happened with Orgone Box<\/strong>. Another in a proud and long line of bands-that-are-mostly-one-guy (see also Karl Wallinger<\/strong><\/a>‘s World Party<\/strong><\/a>, Trent Reznor<\/strong>‘s Nine Inch Nails<\/strong>, etc.) Orgone Box is the brainchild of Rick Corcoran<\/strong>. Corcoran’s approach is to make music that sounds as if it were written and recorded either in 1967 England (think of The Pretty Things<\/strong>‘ SF Sorrow<\/em><\/a> and much of the music on Nuggets II: British Empire and Beyond<\/em>) and\/or the late 1980s (think of the so-called \u201cPaisley Underground\u201d groups out of Los Angeles), and\/or the 1990s Britpop explosion (See: Oasis<\/strong>, Cast<\/strong>, Blur<\/strong>). In my estimation, one could do a lot worse than reference those musical touchstones.<\/p>\n Orgone Box’s new album Centaur<\/em> isn’t really a new album, though: the group’s 2001 self-titled debut contained a dozen songs, and 2014’s Centaur<\/em> (released on the Kool Kat Musik label) reprises seven of them, albeit with slightly altered titles (and possibly different takes\/mixes\/versions). (A 2005 album called My Reply<\/em> may be the source for some Centaur<\/em> tracks; I haven’t done an A\/B comparison.) But the fact that Orgone Box failed to make any impression stateside a dozen-plus years ago more than justifies Kool Kat bringing this fine music to the attention of contemporary audiences.<\/p>\n The entirety of Centaur<\/em> hangs together nicely, but there are true standouts among the ten tunes. The mid-tempo \u201cAnaesthesia\u201d is vaguely reminiscent of The Church<\/strong><\/a>, and features a straightforward and brief but exceedingly memorable lead guitar solo. \u201cMirrorball\u201d leans on the phase shifter a bit heavily, but it delivers a hypnotic vibe.<\/p>\n The shimmering, folk rock of \u201cTicket With No Return\u201d sounds like The La<\/strong>‘s fronted by Robyn Hitchcock<\/strong><\/a>. And that points out a quality of all Orgone Box music: Corcoran’s voice sounds a heckuva lot like the former Soft Boy<\/strong>. As Corcoran’s themes center more around love and other workaday concerns, he does answer the question \u201cwhat would Robyn Hitchcock sound like if he didn’t sing about spiders, frogs and lightbulb heads?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHello Central\u201d adds a Help!<\/em> era jangle to an 80s-style arrangement. But one of Centaur<\/em>‘s two finest tunes is the earworm of \u201cJudy Over the Rainbow.\u201d Yes, the title alone evokes thoughts of 1967, but the hard-driving guitar riff (effectively doubled in places by the bass guitar) has more in common with Revolver<\/em>. If you don’t nod along with this tune, you’re probably wasting your time with this review. The song is a delight.<\/p>\n But \u201cJudy\u201d isn’t even the best tune on \u201cCentaur.\u201d That honor goes to \u201cFind the One,\u201d a gentle, breezy We Five<\/strong>-styled folk rocker with impeccable production values. The volume pedal work on the signature riff is reminiscent of The Beatles<\/strong>‘ \u201cYes It Is,\u201d but the tune itself is timeless. Corcoran’s densely overdubbed vocal harmonies (full of la-da-da vocalisms) float effortlessly atop lovely acoustic guitars and softly jangling electric guitars. Some very subtle string synthesizer work adds the finishing touch. Notably, it’s the only track on Centaur<\/em> that exceeds the four-minute mark.<\/p>\n Much was made at the time of Orgone Box’s debut about the album’s so-called lo-fi production aesthetic. That DIY spirit remains on Centaur<\/em>, but there’s enough polish here to make one think the songs were cut at Abbey Road. It’s a fully realized sonic effort.<\/p>\n If you like the sonic approach used on this album, you’ll love the songs. If retro-minded music isn’t your cup of tea, you’ll likely want to look elsewhere for your new-music fix . As for me, I’ll be hoping that Centaur<\/em> sells well enough to spur the recording and release of more new Orgone Box tunes.<\/p>\n Centaur<\/em> is available on CD from Kool Kat Musik<\/a>.<\/p>\n