# Almost Missed:  San Francisco’s Cool Ghouls’ Debut Album

- Link: https://indierockcafe.com/2013/05/almost-missed-san-franciscos-cool-ghouls-debut-album/
- Published: 2013-05-20T01:10:00-04:00
- Author: Max Hammer

San Francisco band Cool Ghouls - photo by Michael Bordelon

On April 23rd, the **San Francisco** band **Cool Ghouls** released their self-titled
debut album, featuring stand-out tracks like “Ballin,” and “Natural Life” and “In
The Morning,” and we almost missed it. Even though they have a decidedly ’60’s psychedelic
rock/country guitar twang sound, mixed with unmistakable hippie pop infusions and
funky rhythms, Cool Ghouls don’t like to be called ‘retro.’

To this day, many bands that sprout from San Francisco, especially those that embrace
the “San Francisco sound” – that made the city ground zero of the 60’s music scene
thanks to bands like **Santana, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Starship, Janis Joplin,
Quicksilver Messenger Service** – are bound to be tagged with the ‘retro’ label 
at some point. The San Francisco Sound is embedded in the fiber of the city’s musical
aura, and probably always will be. That said, we don’t think there’s anything wrong
with being retro if it’s good stuff.

But **Tim Cohen**, frontman of the **Fresh and Onlys** and **Magic Trick**, challenges
the retro label of the Cool Ghouls and their flashback sound: “First things first:
Cool Ghouls are not a retro act. If you seek musical salvation in the form of mop-
topped mannequins with vintage riffs and hand-me-down rags, please stop reading.
Yes, the Cool Ghouls borrowed their name from **George Clinton’**s Funkadelic-era
pre-show banter. Yes, they dwell penniless in the storied hills of culturally resurgent
San Francisco. But these boys have their feet firmly planted in the soil of the 
now. They look not backwards for approving nods of hipster forebears, but rather
skyward, hoping that the ‘supernatural forces’ they yodel for, guide them to all
corners of a half-deserving world. Truth be told, this being their first official
release, they may even be a bit naïve in their dogged pursuit of the true-blue, 
home-spun, rock and roll lifestyle.”

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But, Cohen observed, if there was to be a 60’s-reverent comparison that fit the 
band, one would most likely find an artistic kinship with some the most inimitable,
idiosyncratic, yet unmistakably influential bands of the retro-fitting oeuvre. **
The Troggs, The Monks, Sir Douglas Quintet** come to mind immediately. (Save your**
Kinks** and **Rolling Stones** references.) Like the aforementioned, the Ghouls 
are natural heirs to the folkloric lineage which precedes them, adding dashes of
weirdness where needed. And despite their mid-fi leanings and natural fit within
the current pantheon of San Francisco rock ‘n’ roll bands (**Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall,
Mikal Cronin**), theirs is a timeless record, which will hopefully transcend the
descriptors (garage, psych, etc.) that will undoubtedly plague it in the blogosfear.
The reason being – they write good SONGS.’

![coolghoulsalbumcover](https://indierockcafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/coolghoulsalbumcover-
584x584.jpg "coolghoulsalbumcover")

Hence, the debut record, an adventurous, colorful romp seen through the eyes of 
old-souled youths, feels wholly coherent and intentional. The self-assuredness of
their songwriting is evident. And no, the Ghouls are not afraid to wear their influences
on their sleeves; this is partly what makes the record so digestible. It doesn’t
claim to be anything other than what it is; a record for now, a record for then,
and a record for forever.

The band has been getting some serious love from the blogosphere and the music press
so far this year, and will set out on a West coast tour in June (see the tour dates
on their official web page). The Bay Bridged wrote: “[The band’s debut] is uncontrived
and unapologetically filled with joy in the most refreshing way.”

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“Natural Life” – **Cool Ghouls** from _Cool Ghouls_