After the frenzied blood in the brain by Pom Poko, a slower, but rather beautiful number on grey matter by the rock band from Oakland, California fronted by Joel Robinow. Once & Future Band have a timelessness about them - currently signed to the heavier rock label Castleface and with only one 2018 debut album and an EP titled Brain, from which this comes, they are on the far gentler spectrum comprising exquisite chord changes and a soulful singing style reminiscent of Curtis Mayfield or even Ween. They also sound like they could have been catapulted straight from 1972 and a scene that mixes prog psychedelia, Beach Boys harmonies, with late Beatles and early Pink Floyd in those climbing keyboard sounds and the orchestral swell of those brass arrangements. The dry-humoured lyrics gently reflect a mixture of old and new waves. Perhaps they are an expression of how we perceive trends in music, whether that is affected by drugs or any variety of cultural stimuli.
We’re the old brain
We’re the old brain
And we’ll never be happy again
We’re the new pain
We’re the new pain
‘Cos they sold us the snake oil
And they salted the good soil
And dried up the rain
We’re the new scene
Of the fracturing dream
We’re the old brain
We’re the old brain
And my power could light the way
‘Cos there’s a lot to see
And more people to free
’Cos they’ve been sold the same stuff
And for some it can be enough
Help them explain
We’re the new power
They’re the crumbling tower
Let’s show them the turnstiles
But be polite to the exiles
We’ll see them again.
We’re the new gleam
On the skin on the stream.
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