Young Gun Silver Fox - Pleasure (2025)

I'll let the band's press release handle the heavy lifting on this one:

Young Gun Silver Fox’s fifth album, Pleasure, sees the West Coast Yacht Rock duo of British singer songwriter Andy Platts and American multi-instrumentalist Shawn Lee continuing to mine their love for the breezy, sunny, roof-down strains of ‘70s California pop-rock-soul, channeling the likes of the Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Earth, Wind & Fire, Pablo Cruise, Ned Doheny and others.

I've been a fan of the band since the get-go and they never disappoint. Analog-ish production, songwriting, and performances are all spot on. While the above description suggests this is strictly a neo-yacht band, the music here relies not only on those influences but also others heard back in the late '70s/early 80s. For example, track 8 on this album, The Greatest Loser, sounds like classic-era Little River Band and they name drop the likes of Stevie Wonder and Sly Stone on the lead track.

Simply put, this album feels like summer. And, like summer, it doesn't last nearly as long as I'd like.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: Only 38 minutes in length, so play 'em all from top-to-bottom. I'd like to hear more of this kind of stuff, so please support the artists over on bandcamp: younggunsilverfox.bandcamp.com

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but the album will be getting its share of spins poolside over the next couple of months.

When they sent my CD, they included a guitar pick. Interesting merch idea and I'm digging the logo design.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Ticket To Shangri-La (2022)
Canyons (2020)
AM Waves (2018)

State Cows - Closed Doors And Open Shores (2025)

Japanese import, part of the Light Mellow Searches series

I've been a fan of State Cows for over a decade, so I'm surprised this is their first appearance on the blog (I'll promptly contact the proprietor about that oversight). Here's a little bit about the Swedish duo, taken from their website:

STATE COWS is one of very few modern yacht rock / westcoast / AOR bands that creates new original music. This project started out as a Steely Dan tribute called THE SECOND ARRANGEMENT. They soon transformed the Steely Dan tribute into the band STATE COWS and started writing an album of brand new yacht rock songs. Smooth guitar lines, half-time shuffles, funky bass lines, slick harmonies, real Fender Rhodes, tight horn sections and some California sunshine ... it's all in there!

So, yeah, it's derivative, but so very good and very smooth. Goes down easy. If you tire of the limited and questionable playlist on the yacht rock channel on SiriusXM, but still want a little Doobie Bounce in your life, this is just what the doctor ordered. The duo leans into the "yacht rock" nomenclature and musical vocabulary while creating neo-yacht music for the dad rock (or granddad rock) crowd. My only complaint is the sound is often over-produced, particularly in the odd treatment of the backing vocals. Overall, the songwriting on this album is much better than on their previous release, 2022's High And Dry.

I encourage you to sample some their stuff over at bandcamp: statecows.bandcamp.com.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: My pick for top tune is track 4, Marina Town, but the whole album is pleasure to hear. Lonely Road has a great flugelhorn solo; On And On is a wonderful instrumental duet featuring only bass and piano; and the chorus of Summer Cloud is gorgeous.

Bonus track: The Japanese CD came with a bonus track, a cover of The Beatles' Ticket To Ride. I had my doubts, but the clever, bouncy arrangement actually works.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None, but the sound sure takes me back to the '80s real quick.

Monkey House - Crashbox (2025)

It's sort of a running joke here at The CD Project that, despite my best intentions, any mention of Monkey House contain a comparison to any number of bands that influenced the group. However, in this blog's previous MH post (Remember The Audio, back in 2022), I wrote "Monkey House have fully realized their very own unique sound" and today I'm going to double down on that statement. Here is a beautiful series of adult contemporary melodic pop songs that are immediately recognizable as Monkey House, complete with bandleader Don Breithaupt's characteristic cadences, instrumentation, and production. And those close vocal harmonies throughout? Goosebumps. It goes without saying that performances by the band and guests are first-rate from start to finish.

My initial reaction to the album was that it had too many midtempo tunes and ballads. I thought it needed a few more upbeat, grooving tunes such as 2019's Shotgun or 1999's North, the latter being one of my all-time favorite Monkey House tunes. But as I spent more time with the music and let it simmer a bit, I started to appreciate it more and more - repeated spins proved worthwhile.

If you're a morning person like me, you know it's rare to stay up past 9 or 10 PM. But on certain nights, the wife and I go to a concert or for a three hour dinner or late night cocktails or some such. On these occasions, I've usually caught my second wind, get home between 11 PM and midnight, and am too wound up so I can't get to sleep until after 1 AM (first world problems, I know). Anyhoo, on such a night recently, I was making the trip from downtown and happened to play this album and found it to be well-suited for winding down after an evening out. I fell asleep immediately upon returning home although the mezcal old fashioneds I slurped up might have had something to do with that. But the album's sequencing is perfect, ending with a ballad that's unlike anything I recall hearing from from the band. Chef's kiss.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: Normally I give MH albums a track-by-track breakdown, but that usually leads to group comparisons. So to avoid that temptation, I'll countdown the album's twelve tracks according to my personal preference. Note: a low ranking does not mean that I dislike the tune - there's nothing skippable here.

12. Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em
11. Someplace On Madison
10. Bring The Stars Down
9. Chasing The Muse
8. Feeling You Breathe
7. Friday Night Jam
6. Crashbox
5. What's Left Of This World
4. Sundaying
3. Return Of The Mayfly
2. You Just Don't Know It Yet
1. Disappear In Plain Sight

Today I'm nominating Disappear In Plain Sight as possibly the best thing Monkey House has recorded. Ever.

I pre-ordered the album so I could get a bonus track, Moving In Time. Sadly, said bonus track was download only and not included on the CD. So I don't offer any opinion on the tune other than to comment that I'm totally opposed to download only tracks. [insert my usual rant about anti-physical product bias here]

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Remember The Audio (2022)
Friday (2019)
Left (2016)
Big Money: Singles, Remasters, Rarities, 1992-2005 (2005)

Also:
Just Passing Through: The Breithaupt Brothers Songbook, Vol. II (2014)