GospelbeacH - Another Summer of Love

It seems to us that one of the best things music can do for us is evoke memories and emotions.  And one of the most evocative albums I've listened to in a long time is Another Summer of Love by Southern California's GospelbeacH.  According to head man Brent Rademaker, the concept behind the album is a California country rock band about to lose their record contract and making a record to try and get radio play to stay alive in the game.  And certainly the album works on that level.  But the magic of music is that for me it works in ways that Brent did not, and need not consider.  For me, Another Summer of Love reminds me of a certain time in my life when summer days involved finding young women willing to head out in a boat or march to the back of the dunes with a bottle of wine, and nights were filled with climbing into my best friend's car and heading to the Ravenna Ballroom or some other teenage hangout with the air bristling with the kind of electricity that a group of young people out on the prowl create.  In those days we listened to music virtually nonstop, and the bulk of it was the sort of country-tinged California indie rock that GospelbeacH has mastered, as well as a healthy dose of Stax soul and R&B.  So Brent and his collaborators got the time and vibe exactly right, and gave me a flood of great memories.  It even prompted me to contact my old wingman, living in the opposite corner of the country, to relive the days when we thought we were becoming legends.

The foregoing doesn't mean that Another Summer of Love is a nostalgia piece.  This is timeless left coast rock, and it will never be unwelcome to those who love guitar pop.  The stories are vivid and true, the performances top-notch, and the variety reveals a songwriter with a comprehensive knowledge and love of guitar pop.  I wouldn't have been surprised to see Chris Hillman, J.D. Souther and the Poco boys in the credits.  But Brent and company are so good, they didn't need them.

Brent Rademaker's background includes Beachwood Sparks, The Tyde and in his deep past, Further, in addition to other projects.  For this album, his core collaborators were Jason Soda and Johnny Neimann.  Another Summer of Love is out this week on vinyl, CD and digital formats via Alive Natural Sounds Records.

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