Country Club is an indie garage/psych band from California. Members include Gilbert Franco (guitar and vocals), Jacob Williams (guitar), David Castaneda (bass or thick strings), Brandyn Higares (drums), and Ben Newman (keys). Their ten track album Cowboy Cult was released on March 8th 2020 and was recorded at the Panoramic House in Stinson Beach, CA. It was produced and mixed by Joe Finnochio in his home studio and mastered by Eric Broyhill at Broyhill Masters.
Let’s dig in, shall we? The entire album start to finish makes me think of what I imagine a real seventies party with stoners and hippie activists might have on during their “trip”. It reminds me a little of Jimi Hendrix but with Surf Curse vocals.
The first track, “Gemini”, is their top played track on the album and their top song as a band. With soft vocals and the smooth flow of the song I’m sent into a romantic daydream where my lover and I are sitting close in the sand and looking towards the ocean as they turn and say, like the lyrics do, “You are a goddess from above, my aphrodite in the flesh”.
“The Only Girl I Know” starts out, as my notes say, “funky as hell!!” with a smiley face drawn next to it. The Bass immediately made me think of Blu DeTiger and it made me want to throw on my flared jeans and dance like I own the world. This track has a bit of a different message, it’s giving off “I like you but I can’t be in a relationship right now, but let’s live in the moment” with lyrics like “You’re the only girl I know and I can’t have that”.
“Kendra” caught my attention with the breakdown forty seconds in. The entire song shifts between soft and slow and strong and passionate. With lyrics like “Oh Kendra, you set me on fire” I think the tempo switch up mimics what having sex is like, and if that was intentional on their part then major kudos to them because it was executed perfectly. The end of the song ends with high vocals and a strong finish, it went out with a bang if you will.
I would describe “Cashmere”, the one lyric song, as the trippy intermission of the album where all you have to do is sit back and let the music take you for a ride.
“Slurring Your Speech” makes me think that the singer watches this girl they’re into from afar and though they don’t interact in public, they probably know each other privately.
The soft sound of “You Turn Me On” projects a sort of admiration yet intimidation from the singer. When the song says “I’m so scared of everything you wear” I'm left wondering if the subject of the song is a bold and unapologetic yet mysterious force, and with the song being the shortest on the album, it feels like a momentary observation.
As someone who daydreams a lot, “White Light” seems like the song you put on when you are wishing you weren’t alone and you know exactly who you wish were there beside you. It’s lonely but romantice with lyrics like “I have a bed to myself, oh but girl I want yours” which I think most of us, including myself, can relate to those late night thoughts.
With an intimate intro, “Sex Toy” tells the story of that one person who you involve yourself with but there’s no label or commitment and then that person moves on to find love within someone else. The voice of jealousy seeps through with the lyric “When you’re off in lover land I’m just glad you’re not here” but that just seems like a defense mechanism.
The last two songs on this album, “Window I (You)” and “Window II (The Shaman)”, put together feel almost like an intense ritual song. The transition between the two is flawless as well. “Window I (You)” with whispy vocals and a relatively softer sound, is another single lyric song like “Cashmere”. That lyric being “You see it all through the window” which given the title of the album and the mention of gods in “Window II (The Shaman)” furthers my thought that these two songs have spiritual ties. “Window II (The Shaman)” has a more intense sound with much more aggressive vocals backed by the lyric “Pray to death ‘cause heaven awaits” which personally is my favorite lyric of the album.
I think this album in its entirety is unique, the lyrics make me feel grounded to earth but the instrumental behind it feels otherworldly. If you are a spiritual “let my crystals charge in the moonlight at my window” type of person, this album was meant for you.
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