Released:
Rating:
With debut album ‘Great Big Blue’, Geowulf deliver.
Label: 37 Adventures
Released: 16th February 2018
Rating: ★★★
Certain records can transport you to a moment in time. It’s in that vein that Geowulf’s debut album shines, quite literally, as a scorching summer soundtrack of glinting poolsides and wide-eyed classic American grooves. Like an intertwining of a distinct moment in time and the effortless melodies they craft, Geowulf have been promising something mesmeric for a while now, and with debut album ‘Great Big Blue’ they deliver on it.
Knowing nods are there across the album’s eleven tracks, using together as a cohesive snapshot that blends charm and swagger into a mixture you can’t back away from. ‘Get You’ shuffles with glossy tropical grooves, ‘Hideaway’ mirrors that throwback click that Wolf Alice nailed so well on ‘Beautifully Unconventional’ where innocent love glides with immediate pointers and ‘Greatest Fool’ finds shimmering guitars triggering the sort of feeling you get when cruising down an open Californian road in the middle of the day (which must be quite blissful right?).
Yet it’s in the album’s second half where Geowulf tease at something more. The 80s video-game menage that is ‘Won’t Look Back’ is a sultry portion that needs to be munched up ASAP – and that insatiable wink continues through ‘Drink Too Much’ and its almost childlike gleam of innocence and style that flutters and shakes into your brain in no time. There’s always a touch of Lana Del Rey to the vocal swoons of lead singer Star, but it comes to the fore with the encompassing ‘Summer Fling’ – a Bond soundtrack for when it’s set on Californian coasts.
With ‘Great Big Blue’, Geowulf lay their intentions and influences clearly – and in its moments of grandeur and daring; it signals something undeniably rich that’ll have you hooked in a stunning daydream. Jamie Muir
