The retro-aquatic vibration that is 'Adoration of the Boogie Bear' is sonic 70's-era watercolor sketches, and muted realities wrapped in guitar-string bows. Mellow and strumfully echoed, it aptly and uniquely presents a facet of the 'other black experience', that could easily become iconic. The poetry in the lyrics adeptly weaves a soft electric dream for the listener, while the vocals, heavy, straight and suggestively whimsical, command attention effortlessly, but gently.
The bards of CaliforniaKing are skilled storytellers, with songs like 'Far too young' easily fitting of a film score, capturing the emotion of its lyrics with a lamentful precision, painting a picture and story the listener is instantly pulled into. Moving forward the etherscursion offers 'Naked', an uptempo song reminiscent of otherworld strumming banjo strings, coconuts, and sandy beaches, wearing a giant sonic smile. You can see the palmtree printed button-downs and smiling bikini-clad afropunkettes swaying in it. Infectious, it's the song you put on for happytime, as grey clouds fear its power.
Even the otherworldy glowing interlude with delicious kaliedoscope chords, 'No romance' lures and hypnotizes, repeating the mantra 'It's not just make believe', while 'Whiskey Glass', a sullen masterpiece honors the other-dropping shoe. 'It never matters...Just give me my whiskey glass,' is delivered with a reality registering in stop-motion pastels, leading into the charming romantic overture, 'Whaleride'.
The finale, Planet Earth, takes the story downtempo, complete with lamentful guitars, ending a journey that began with the majestic and timely sonic yarn '2012'.
'And you try to be whole...' truly says it all.
We applaud this excursion into the delightful depths of the ethereal mind that is CaliforniaKing, and await their coming works with a dreamy sigh, and a flick of our chocolate mermaid tails.
Well done.
If we had an official rating system at UU we'd give it an A+
(Click the cover image to order your copy)
photo: 
Believe (Black Faerie) Dazjae(C)06
2 comments:
Well Effing Done!
^_^
Peace.
Thx for stopping through, and for extending the love. California King is the business.
Shine on
-PZ (a.k.a Dazjae)
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