You know what, the music of Austin Texas' Cotton Mather is still fairly new to me. I first found out about this band when I picked up John Borack's excellent Guide to Power Pop, Shake Some Action. It's a great book for fans of melodic pop, and if you don't agree with his choices at least it creates an interesting debate for music lovers. Kontiki, Cotton Mather's second full-length, was ranked 26th out of the top 200 power pop albums. (Incidentally, Adam Schmitt's extraordinary World So Bright (see my earlier post) was #9 on the list). Cotton Mather sounded like a group that I would enjoy, so I eventually picked up a copy for under $20. And I was mightily impressed with the music, amazingly recorded on 4-Track and ADAT. It's hard to believe music this full and complex could be done that way, though I guess that is what bands like The Beatles and Beach Boys had back in the early 60's. Honestly I believe that they deserve a reward for being a band that basically channels the Beatles without being the least bit imitative.
Of course the fact that these guys put together an album of this quality in a lo-fi way is remarkable, and comparisons to Guided By Voices are inevitable. The album titles are quirky in the style of Robert Goddard, and in some ways they are in the same zone as Neutral Milk Hotel, a band whose popularity has grown tremendously, and deservedly so. When I listen to Kontiki, I feel that this album is on the same level as In The Aeroplane Over The Sea , except that I expect few people know about these guys.
Well, maybe that will change soon, because, unwittingly I just found out that a project has been underway to reissue a deluxe 2-disc version of Kontiki by Robert Harrison. This project has been fan-funded, to the tune of 17,000+ dollars, exceeding the original amount originally asked for. I would say that this is a testament to the quality of this recording, and also to the loyalty and esteem that fans have for Cotton Mather. I saw a blog post that said that they were still sorting out what the tracks would be on the bonus disc. Sounds like good news to anyone who likes interesting pop music like I do.
And I wasn't kidding about what I said about the Beatles. Some of the songs here sound like Beatles songs that somebody found in a vault somewhere that have been lost since the late 60's. But not like the Rutles at all. You could probably play this for your friends and tell them that these are some old Beatles demos that were just discovered, and you could probably fool them. Songs like Spin My Wheels, or Homefront Cameo.
Cotton Mather were Robert Harrison, Guitar/Vocals, Whit Williams Guitar/Vocals, George Reiff on Bass, Dana Mizer on drums. I'm not sure what else is going down, as there seems to be a lot of keyboards and maybe sitar or mandolin on some of the songs. In addition to the pop chops and great harmonies apparent, there is fairly heavy psychedelic tinge to some of the songs like Aurora Bori Alice and Lily Dreams On.
But for those of us who admire huge hooks, you have amazing songs like the Fab Foury She's Only Cool, and the excellent My Before and After. Password is an equally amazing song, the guitar reminiscent of Big Star's September Gurls. Kontiki is a very special album of the highest quality, another album so surprisingly good that I was shocked that it could have been hidden from me for so long.
Well, maybe this band won't our little secret for much longer. Anybody with a sweet tooth for pop music, or who is one of the huge legion of Beatles acolytes is going to find a lot to enjoy here. (Or if you are a GBV fan who can't wait 2 weeks for the next Robert Pollard release). I'm not sure what the other guys in Cotton Mather are up to now, but Robert Harrison has made a number of highly regarded albums under the moniker Future Clouds and Radar. And let's hope that their other records will receive the same reissue treatment in the near future. But for now, just be happy that an expanded Kontiki will be available soon.
