BANDCAMP SUGGESTIONS: Cosmodrome’s self-titled EP
For this installment of Bandcamp Suggestions, I focus the light on a group currently based out of Boston whose music I’ve heard through demo and live videos, and now they’re ready to show what they can accomplish in a studio. They are called Cosmodrome, and they consist of Taylor Robinson on drums, Charley Ruddell on bass, Finnegan Bryan Singer on guitar, and maintaining the vocal duties is Madison McFerrin. Together they create a nice mixture of soul, funk, jazz, and pop that at this stage show how well they gel together. As with any “demo”, Cosmodrome want to demonstrate and concentrate on how they perform and how their songs sound in the hopes of getting some gigs. What I also hear are a band that know how to structure a song properly, but these songs leave things open for incredible improvisation and things that would sound incredible when it is “of the moment”. McFerrin has the kind of voice that at first may sound like “the cool chick” with a bit of allure and sensuality, but in a track like “Miss Me In The Morning”, you realize that while there may be a slight vulnerability, she is very much the one in charge, and the band compliment her by digging deep in the emotional department. “Mental Incarceration” goes back to the early 90′s a bit as it has that acid jazz vibe that Brand New Heavies and Groove Collective did so well, which in turn was a reflection of the funky jazz and boogaloo of the late 60′s and early 70′s.
If this EP is what Cosmodrome have in their pockets right now, one can only imagine what will happen when they have to go through a security check when they take this nationally. :Unload your pockets, please. Oh, what is this? Wait, I figured you had that, but not… this!” Three songs are the lure, and it’s a good lure to have. Nibble on it for awhile.