For a part of the country that regularly registered temperatures in the mid-to-high 90°s, Austin, TX, sure churns out some cool bands. And "Cool" is definitely a crucial term when encountering Lone Star quartet Daiistar and their debut, Good Time. The group shows themselves to be dependable restorers of previous eras' neo-psychedelic pop revivals, spiritually succeeding the impulsive groove-belt magnetism of groups like Brian Jonestown Massacre as well as the dirt-kicking soul of The Warlocks, while landing, with conscious aim, closer to the melodic milieu of the clean but shaggy, hook-heavy mantle of '80s Primal Scream. As much as grand catchy vocal sweeps and brazen guitars with extensive tangles of hirsute distortion are important elements of what makes Good Time, well, a good time(!), it's really the rhythm section that keeps these tracks cohering and commanding, maintaining the songs on a tight and tops-tervy rail that always feels like it's going to launch the band off the chain hill and into the sun, but instead directs their kaleidoscopic trip through lapping loops of hammer-headed trip-hop and spacy shoegaze, driving through ever denser and more enticing cornets of blindingly pyretic mirages to be delivered onto a summit of pure pop perfection. These cats really know how to make the heart purr with delight, with every track demonstrating that they knew exactly what they were doing when they named this album.
* Cadet blue inspired my decision to write about Daiistar's Good Time for the 19th day of the Spring Colors Challenge because it's a tonally "cool" color, and they're frankly (as I've said above), a very cool band. In addition, I initially thought the cover showed someone looking through some kind of an ice formation... I've since realized that it's a dude peering through a shattered windshield, which is a cool visual in a completely different way.
