If authentic means something from the past and nostalgia a longing for those times, then it is probably fair to say that “Where You Begin” is retrospective, something infused with and tipping its sonic hat to what has gone before. And whilst The Sunday Shamans are clearly a band that knows their musical history, they assemble their ideas and inspiration with a modern frame. Neo-psychledia? I reckon so.
Feeling slightly like the dark and trippy under belly of the Summer of Love as it headed somewhere darker and more dangerous, “Where You Begin” runs on that classic descending chord progression much loved by The Beatles, but rather the perky pop of their golden age, if there is a connection to the fab four, it is the what-if-sound had they gone a more Dyonisian and Doors-y route, a path lost last albums hinted at but which, sadly we never got.
It’s fair to say that the vocals here might not be everyone’s idea of rock and roll, certainly not by modern standards, but I would say that this is actually the icing on the cake, the perfect raw and lived-in narrative voice for a sound rooted in the world of formative garage rock.
And if this darkening 60s underground soundscape of growling guitars and restless forward momentum is retrospective in its sound, lyrically it is too, only in a less chronological, more general sense, reflecting on the poignant idea of taking time to appreciate the contribution and positive effect that others have on our lives. Something we often only notice over time.
As I say, this is not music of the past, nor even an attempt to copy the past, but the sound of what the sixties underground scene might sound like if it were just getting going today.
Website
Spotify
Bandcamp
YouTube
