Deltasonic; August 2007
Hailing from Hoylake, U.K., The Coral is an eclectic septet whose past albums have featured a heady mix of sea shanties, dub, mariachi, and Captain Beefheart-esque psychedelic blues. On Roots and Echoes, The Coral tone it down to a sort of retro ’60s Cali-pop la Jan and Dean mashed up with Arthur Lee’s Love circa Forever Changeswith British sensibilities. Big choruses and a sense of melancholy predominate on key tunes “Jacqueline” and “Who’s Gonna Find Me”where vocalist James Skelly proves his mettle as one of the U.K.’s best crooners since Ian McCulloch. With other touchstones including The Yardbirds, The Animals, and the Kinks, some might consider Roots and Echoes to be “dad rock”but it still rocks.