ALBUM REVIEW: COOLDAD, 1971
What better concept for an album by a band called COOLDAD than the life-stories of frontman Will Anderson's super-cool father?
COOLDAD hails from Geelong, Victoria, where the album was home-recorded, and performed, mixed and mastered by locals.
Retro-harmonies inform us that it's 1971, before we burst into some madcap harmonica on opening track Men. This is followed by a combination of lively bass and grungy guitar on Lovecoin - already we're getting the feeling this album is going to be full of fun and variety.
War in Hong Kong brings back the harmonica and introduces more sombre subject matter, before Shakespeare Avenue uses intricate lyrics and a big guitar sound to play with the Romeo and Juliet story.
Major Sea is a cool groove with serous overtones delivered in a short, sharp package, while Somewhere in the Middle picks up the pace and brings back the harmonica to great effect.
COOLDAD aren't afraid to experiment with their sound, bringing us a taste of nostalgic indie pop with Youth in Revolt, and a gentle acoustic piece in Mary Jane.
Then they mix it up again, with Great Dane and Sportscar both containing echoes of the greats of classic rock.
In penultimate track Take Me Back, we envision the cool father musing about the good old days, before his son directly addresses him in the final track Now That You're Fifty-Four (with evocative lines like ‘did you wish you’d done more, now that you're fifty-four?').
We love a good concept album, and COOLDAD deliver with 1971.
In sum:
ALBUM: 1971
ARTIST: COOLDAD
RELEASE DATE: July 19, 2025
GENRE: Indie rock
RECOMMENDED FOR: The fun-loving and the nostalgic