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Continuing on in their ever-prolific and sensational run of releases, The Cowboys are back with five tracks of pure analog gold on "Lovers in Marble". Recorded by the band in Cincinnati and mixed with John Hoffman (Vacation), this EP finds The Cowboys as cool and collected as ever, with Keith Harman's driving piano lines and vocal range atop the mix. It's quite the divine distillation of garage pop melody, (think 'Loaded' era VU, Walker Brothers, or Emitt Rhodes) given a sinister coating of The Kinks and Syd Barrett, curious production flourishes intact. The Cowboys have truly spent their quarantine days well, pairing brilliant pop compositions with some of the best instrumentation and recording quality across their ever-expanding discography. "Lovers in Marble" is a pivotal Cowboys release, perhaps their most accessible, but also most refined piece of work yet. A perfect sonic respite from the long, dark days of 2020.
Our take: Brand new 5-song cassette from Indiana’s prolific Cowboys. I’ve enjoyed being on the journey with the Cowboys, watching them grow, evolve, and take chances with each new release. Lovers in Marble continues that trend with results at least as good as any other Cowboys release. At this point I’m not sure I’d call the Cowboys a punk band; they’re just an underground rock band. I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks of Guided by Voices when I listen to Lovers in Marble. Like GBV, the Cowboys are songsmiths at heart, anglophilic (with a particular fondness for British psychedelic pop), and they have a complicated relationship with fidelity. There are moments of pure pop bliss on Lovers in Marble that remind me of the Zombies or even My Bloody Valentine, and there are moments that don’t work as well. (I was listening to this in my office and when the off-key, Kermit like vocals came in at the end of “The Bell Rings Less,” I heard Dominic shout “they lost me here” from the other room.) I’m partial to bands that throw a lot at the wall to see what sticks, and I’d place the Cowboys in that category along with the Kinks and GBV. I’m sure, by this point, the Cowboys have lost a lot of punks and people with limited bandwidth for new music, but I am still very much on board.