Jacco Gardner

No strangers to baroque psych around here, we were pretty much smitten with Jacco Gardner's debut record for Trouble in Mind instantaneously. The Dutch songsmith pays a picture perfect homage to the winsome records of the 60's, the ones that swelled with strings, built music box worlds of swirling sound and could dip their toes in saccharine waters without ever leaving the listener with a toothache. Its clear that Gardner's been filling out his collection with some sweet reissues of late, which is a wonderful testament to being young and having the wealth of decades at your fingertips to reinterpret. The record bounces obvious touches of The Zombies through crimson swells of Left Banke, Blossom Toes, Sagittarius, Gandalf and The Millennium. But what Gardner really brings to mind here is the quiet complexities of JK & Co.'s Suddenly One Summer, another album that feels like an insular world made only to contain the artists joys and sorrows. In the end that's really how the record comes across, as an escape into the past to capture a modern sense of ennui and bittersweet longing. Bonus points to Garnder for tracking down Jan Audier, the man behind the boards of Dutch nuggets like Q65 and Golden Earring, to put a few vintage touches on the record in the mastering department. Alongside The Paperhead, Trouble in Mind have snagged a cadre of psych perfectionists. Maybe they'll reel in the next Sufis record and make a trifecta of lush psychedelia. For now, this is more than enough to tide over RSTB's longing for sweet acid pop.

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