Cool Sounds / More to Enjoy 12" Vinyl

Cool Sounds are a Melbourne-sprung indie guitar-pop outfit. They’ve been playing together since the mid 10’s, fluid in line-up but with writer/vocalist Dainis Lacey at the heart of it, whose idiosyncratic falsetto makes the band instantly recognisable. The current line-up includes original members Nick Kearton, Steve Foulkes and Jack Nichols, and Ambrin Hasnain, who joined upon her relocation from Germany to Australia in 2018. Previous members are Zac Denton (Ciggie Witch, The Ocean Party), Liam “Snowy” Halliwell (The Ocean Party, No Local), Lauren Huynh (Ciggie Witch, Classic) and Tim Eilenberg (Focus Group, Grace Cummings Band).

Cool Sounds are notable for their guitar-lick interplay, melodic lines and earnest delivery. The prolific group’s style is firmly rooted in Melbourne’s jangle scene, but they excel in borrowing atmospheres from past musical eras with enough ambiguity so as to create timeless songs. Their early EPs Melbourne Fashion (2014) and Healing Crystals (2015) were released on DIY labels Whalesmouth and beko respectively. Their first full-length Dance Moves found a home on Deaf Ambitions. Third EP Gristle, released early 2018, was made of cuttings from their upcoming second LP Cactus Country. Gristle was self-released, but Cactus Country saw the band partner with both Osborne Again and Hotel Motel Records. This same team will release their third album More To Enjoy, slated for Sept 20th 2019, with Meritorio Records putting out the record on vinyl in Europe/UK.

The first taste from the upcoming album is “Around And Down”, released June 19th 2019 - a shimmering track inspired by the deaths of John Clarke and previous band member Zac Denton. It’s about how after death, an artist ‘becomes his admirers’, and how place and season can evoke the reliving of memories. New single “More To Enjoy” (July 24th) is a sonic gateway into the rhythmic, lofi 70s sound of the LP - drenched in woozy alt-country riffs and flamboyant instrumentation, as though Lacey has been spending time with Burt Bacharach and Hot Chocolate. It’s about the complex nature of friendship and loyalty in difficult circumstances.

Having launched “Around And Down” at a handful of Australian shows this past June, Cool Sounds will be touring Europe in July and August, before appearing at the Kyneton Music Festival and taking their new album around Australia late 2019.

1. Hula Hoop Group
2. More To Enjoy
3. Hume And Gloom
4. Golden Seasons
5. Blue Motion
6. Digi Dog
7. Around And Down
8. Born
9. Sydney 666 (Sixes)