Rating: NNNN
With the Old Soul, former White Star Liner Luca Maoloni ditches wishy-washy shoegaze stylings for a 21st-century love letter to the Beach Boys, the Zombies and their harmonizing 60s brethren. Maoloni plays a billion instruments, ably assisted by local indie folk including Andy Magoffin, Juri Biondic (ex-Tangiers) and Black Eyes’ Nick Taylor, for a Moog- and Wurlitzer-drenched retro-pop wet dream of an album, topped off with falsetto vocals. The first half is a tad monotonous, but the disc takes off after a cartoonish Vege-Tables cover (sans McCartney crunching a carrot). From there, it’s quirky, all over the place and wonderfully crafted – I dig Robert Wyatt, which merges a Smells Like Teen Spirit riff with singsong melodies and lyrics that both dis his old band and give props to Wyatt for playing the drums without using his legs. Awesome.
The Old Soul launch their CD at the Rivoli Friday (November 26).
