Bambu (The Caribou Sessions)

Orpheus Listening Challenge 2024: #24 An album where the artist died in the middle of recording it (22nd album)

I haven't listened to Pacific Ocean Blue in quite some time, but I feel like this album would've been a worthy successor even in the state it was released 40ish years later.

But as it stands, this album is all over the place with a sound that's quite a bit uneven, unfocused, and downright uninspired at moments. Some songs go a bit contemporary, sunshine, sometimes with a poppy blues sound, and even a song that's clearly inspired by the spacy Pink Floyd sound. Trim it down and remove some unnecessary moments or build upon them, which I'm sure someone would've remembered to do had circumstances gone differently, and you got a good pop album.

Dennis has a good singing voice, sounding sometimes like Lou Reed and John Martyn, or like an inspiration to Elvis Costello, with a beautiful gruff to distance himself from the sunshine of the Beach Boys while still maintaining that lovely California sound, but hollowed-out and gaunt.