Will Schube ghost produces for The Avalanches
Sam Cohen fronted a band called Yellowbirds who just recently played their last show. I was unaware of this. The band’s dissolution may bring sadness to their fans, but as someone blissfully ignorant of their existence, I’m glad the break-up allowed Sam Cohen to venture off onto his own; his latest track, “Kepler 62” is a really, really good song.
“Kepler” has serious swagger to it—synth stabs infuse the track with biting pep (accompanied by Harvest-era Neil Young guitar work), as Cohen’s voice sounds equal parts 60s folk and its re-incarnations (particularly Blitzen Trapper). This synthesis creates a chorus soaring in cynicism—less the result of particular lyrics than in Cohen’s delivery. The track is buoyed by a bass line consistent in its fret board wanderings. “Kepler” is a psychedelic space jam tethered to Earth by the feelings it invokes, particularly the need to drive up and down some California canyon road (preferably in a convertible).Cohen nails the aspects of Foxygen obsessed with the more psychedelic Beatles affairs, but instead of sounding like a petulant meanderer (in the case of Foxygen, make the descriptor plural), Cohen sounds like an actual adult who’s really very good at making music.
https://soundcloud.com/easysoundrecordingco/sam-cohen-kepler-63
