THE BOOT LAGOON

Seemingly emerging into the 21st century as if they had been victims of The Montauk Project and transported from the fertile verdant Canterbury fields of the 1970s, THE BOOT LAGOON is one of the newer bands that has fully embraced the vintage sounds of the 1970s Canterbury Scene by adopting the whimsical jazz-rock sounds of bands like Caravan, Hatfield & The North and early Soft Machine. Rightfully the band actually hails from Canterbury, the epicenter of the sounds that nurtured a completely separate branch of progressive rock!

The band was formed in 2011 by Peter Edlin (guitar, vocals, percussion), Callum Magill (keyboards, piano, moog, vocals, percussion), Cameron Dawson (bass, vocals, percussion), Seth Deuchar (drums, flute, effects) and so far has hardly released any music at all! Shortly after the band's inception the single "Businessman" was released in 2011 and then in 2012 this four-track released titled THE BOOT LAGOON EP followed however as of 2019 there has been no followup release which is a true pity because if you are the type of retro-progger who craves authenticity then you simply CANNOT go wrong with THE BOOT LAGOON.

Silly moniker aside which is actually probably the point, THE BOOT LAGOON EP delivers a veritable slice of vintage Canterbury prog that easily could pass as some long lost unreleased Caravan sessions as the band perfectly imitates the sound of yestercentury and even adopts the production techniques which leads me to believe this album was completely recorded on analog period piece equipment. While the band clearly hadn't found their own sound on this short but sweet EP, these musicians pay the most spectacular tribute to the Canterbury greats that made the sound so special.

While short in duration, THE BOOT LAGOON EP checks off all the essential Canterbury boxes with gusto. Fuzzed out bass? Check. Jazzy Caravan keyboard melodic drives, oh yeah! Sensual Hatfield & The North atmospheric mood enhancers? You bethca. Trippy 60s fueled psychedelia a la feedback fuzz, hazy guitar riffs and staccato key stabs? Wouldn't be a Canterbury tribute without it. Oh and there are saxophone extras delivered by guest musician Owen Hewson to take the jazzy touches to the stratosphere. Honestly i've never heard a more authentic modern day rendition of the classic Canterbury days even by the original bands themselves who fell off the bandwagon long ago.

This little EP is highly recommended for anyone longing for a completely new product that sounds as if it was bootlegged out of the 70s. Completely authentic in every possible way and while i wouldn't call this an absolute essential slice of Canterbury heaven, i do have to say that this is without a doubt the closest thing to the classic sounds of the 70s that i have ever heard outside of that timeline. These guys have done their homework thoroughly and are the perfect imposters of a completely different generation as they master the instrumental interplay, harmonic complexities and musical playfulness. While there are a few backing vocals strewn about, this is basically an instrumental affair. I would totally love to hear these guys release a full-length album where they rely less on vintage imitation and insert some of their own poetic license in the mix.

Probably should be 3.5 but so good and i want to encourage the band to crank out some more!