photo courtesy of joey wharton
"Time Will Tell" by Richmond, Virginia based experimental, art indie rock outfit Spooky Cool is progressively drawn, nicely weird and wonky, super densely punchy and overall, with the askew poetic (maybe fatalistic, maybe not) lyrics, feels wonderfully surreal. It is the kind of song that you can revel in for different reasons because so much is going on. Like a sonic Rube Goldberg machine you might find your self listening a couple of dozen times trying to figure out how this mouse trap works. The fertile mind of singer songwriter Zac Hryciak has patterned approaches and press notey stuff reveal that ["Time Will Tell" was written through a lens of matter-of-fact despair. Depicting existential dread by way of black comedy], a so called 'recurring tactic' for Zac and listening to other Spooky Cool tracks with their intricate puzzle pieced construction and almost Albert Brooks meets Thom Yorke lyrical bents, I feel a sort of life as a cosmic joke but not in a jokey sort of way at all. It feels philosophical leaving open spaces to shove in shims of hope and love underneath the unpleasant weight (microcosmic and macro bruises and pain) of it all.
I, of course, am only jumping to conclusions having just skimmed the surface. I am amazed by the musicality. I am a guitarist and drummer and I figuratively get down on my knees and bow to the eclectic artistry here. Maybe some might say that Spooky Cool has the same DNA of bands like Pere Ubu or Zappa but while some proggy experimental bands might seem to move sideways just because it feels odd, I don't feel that kind of aesthetic here. It feels a bit more post rock proggy, art rock proggy more Oingo Boingo meets Radiohead meets Of Montreal meets At The Drive-In or thereabouts.
Spooky Cool consists of Zac Hryciak (lead vox, guitar), Paula Lavalle (lead vox), Sean Williams (bass), Zavi Harman (lead guitar) and Lee Spratley (drums). I implore that you check them out and delve into their live performance videos as well.
-Robb Donker Curtius
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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
https://www.facebook.com/spookycool
https://soundcloud.com/spookycool
https://www.spookycoolmusic.com/
https://twitter.com/spookycoolmusic
Attempting to describe Richmond’s Spooky Cool--not only their musical style, but also the emotions and ideas their music provokes--will always be a troublesome task. The songs are too consistently kaleidoscopic, and never at ease in one feeling or one component for too long. It therefore seems appropriate to give a summary of the band’s inception before anything else. Lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter Zac Hryciak began this project in 2015 alongside drummer Lee Spratley and bassist Sean Williams, musicians with whom he has been collaborating in one project or another for over a decade, as an effort to bring together contrasting musical sensibilities in a manner which was unfamiliar, yet intelligible. Hryciak, whose approach to vocal melodies and lyrics owes a great deal to Paul Simon, set out with his band to infuse this kind of songwriting with discordance and complex rhythmic and instrumental patterns, though without extreme sacrifice to the music’s harmonious and lyrically playful underpinnings. Vocalist Paula Lavalle joined Spooky Cool later that year, and she helps emphasize and augment the group’s more melodic components, while lead guitarist Zavi Harman, whose instrumental technique has its origins in math rock, became a permanent member soon after.
The subject matter of Spooky Cool’s music often pivots on annihilation of one form or another, whether such destruction concerns male ego and presumption or more biblical notions of the apocalypse. Yet this type of topic is never conveyed in a high-flown, pompous manner, but rather is imbued with a wry comical aspect which grounds such dismal, and at times existential concerns with a sense of modesty and playfulness. Zac Hryciak’s lyrical approach moves effortlessly from the anecdotal to the wholly spiritual, from matters of inebriation and sexual insecurity to grand abstractions like good and evil. In essence, Spooky Cool unflaggingly strives to intermix the mundane with the extraordinary.
Spooky Cool aims at sustaining a tradition of ornate, intricate musical composition demonstrated in the works of bands and composers they admire such as The Beach Boys, Deerhoof, Tchaikovsky, and Sibelius, though with an added influence of metal--Fuzz, for instance, is a recurrent source of inspiration--which contributes a sense of both grimness and deviant humor to the band’s musical disposition. Indelible, euphonic vocal melodies, and lavish vocal harmonies are put to use in abundance. Moreover, wide-ranging dynamics, sudden time-signature shifts, detailed, syncopated drum rhythms, and unexpected periods of tonal dissonance are characteristics to be encountered in nearly all of their tracks. As with their subject matter, Spooky Cool’s instrumentation is an amalgamation of seemingly disparate elements: the gentle and the brutal, the melodious and the abrasively atonal.
In short, the members of Spooky Cool are merely seeking to produce music which they themselves consider entertaining and thought-provoking, and to establish a singular voice, a niche, in the already chockablock world of pop music.
** At this particular time we find ourselves in a financial pinch due to many factors. We want to keep AP going. It has been a passion project for over 13 years. PLEASE consider donating, we could really use the support. Thanks so much
We get by with a little help from our friends
Spooky Cool, indie rock, alt rock, progressive rock, art rock, avant rock, "Time Will Tell", dense musicality, Richmond, Virginia, art pop, avant pop,
https://www.facebook.com/spookycool
https://soundcloud.com/spookycool
https://www.spookycoolmusic.com/
https://twitter.com/spookycoolmusic
Attempting to describe Richmond’s Spooky Cool--not only their musical style, but also the emotions and ideas their music provokes--will always be a troublesome task. The songs are too consistently kaleidoscopic, and never at ease in one feeling or one component for too long. It therefore seems appropriate to give a summary of the band’s inception before anything else. Lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter Zac Hryciak began this project in 2015 alongside drummer Lee Spratley and bassist Sean Williams, musicians with whom he has been collaborating in one project or another for over a decade, as an effort to bring together contrasting musical sensibilities in a manner which was unfamiliar, yet intelligible. Hryciak, whose approach to vocal melodies and lyrics owes a great deal to Paul Simon, set out with his band to infuse this kind of songwriting with discordance and complex rhythmic and instrumental patterns, though without extreme sacrifice to the music’s harmonious and lyrically playful underpinnings. Vocalist Paula Lavalle joined Spooky Cool later that year, and she helps emphasize and augment the group’s more melodic components, while lead guitarist Zavi Harman, whose instrumental technique has its origins in math rock, became a permanent member soon after.
The subject matter of Spooky Cool’s music often pivots on annihilation of one form or another, whether such destruction concerns male ego and presumption or more biblical notions of the apocalypse. Yet this type of topic is never conveyed in a high-flown, pompous manner, but rather is imbued with a wry comical aspect which grounds such dismal, and at times existential concerns with a sense of modesty and playfulness. Zac Hryciak’s lyrical approach moves effortlessly from the anecdotal to the wholly spiritual, from matters of inebriation and sexual insecurity to grand abstractions like good and evil. In essence, Spooky Cool unflaggingly strives to intermix the mundane with the extraordinary.
Spooky Cool aims at sustaining a tradition of ornate, intricate musical composition demonstrated in the works of bands and composers they admire such as The Beach Boys, Deerhoof, Tchaikovsky, and Sibelius, though with an added influence of metal--Fuzz, for instance, is a recurrent source of inspiration--which contributes a sense of both grimness and deviant humor to the band’s musical disposition. Indelible, euphonic vocal melodies, and lavish vocal harmonies are put to use in abundance. Moreover, wide-ranging dynamics, sudden time-signature shifts, detailed, syncopated drum rhythms, and unexpected periods of tonal dissonance are characteristics to be encountered in nearly all of their tracks. As with their subject matter, Spooky Cool’s instrumentation is an amalgamation of seemingly disparate elements: the gentle and the brutal, the melodious and the abrasively atonal.
In short, the members of Spooky Cool are merely seeking to produce music which they themselves consider entertaining and thought-provoking, and to establish a singular voice, a niche, in the already chockablock world of pop music.
** At this particular time we find ourselves in a financial pinch due to many factors. We want to keep AP going. It has been a passion project for over 13 years. PLEASE consider donating, we could really use the support. Thanks so much
We get by with a little help from our friends
Spooky Cool, indie rock, alt rock, progressive rock, art rock, avant rock, "Time Will Tell", dense musicality, Richmond, Virginia, art pop, avant pop,
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