Listen
We’re getting to a point in time where, save for hardcore fans of the Rocky franchise, the general population remembers a certain name under only one context. And that was as one of Austin’s premiere ’60s-fied garage pop rock outfits. Ya know…Burgess Meredith.
Still though, it’s a name we haven’t heard in quite some time. A dozen years down the line from their debut EP Banana Moon and seven since their first full-length A Dimension of Sound (which was also the group’s last studio album to date), we’ve all but formally filed a missing persons report on Burgess Meredith. Heck, I personally have a very fond memory of catching Burgess Meredith at the Cactus Cafe somewhere in the mid-2010s and have since caught myself looking back every now and then wondering, “what ever happened to them?”
Well, it turns out Burgess Meredith is alive and well, and their grip on retro pop-garage rock romance is strong as it’s ever been. With a fresh lineup and a baker’s dozen new tunes mostly recorded at the height of social distancing, Burgess Meredith drops their long overdue comeback Person Hat tomorrow. Person Hat heralds the return of Burgess Meredith’s piano-driven arrangements and firm grasp on the baroque/chamber pop aspects of ’60s psychedelia plus Beach Boys-esque vocal unisons and harmonies – everything we’ve always loved about Burgess Meredith. But this time those elements are joined by the welcome orchestral additions of cello, clarinet, and horns plus a generous serving of vocoder, ultimately blurring the lines between Barrett-era Pink Floyd, late Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, and The Zombies.
If you haven’t seen Burgess Meredith live in concert yet, you absolutely have to check ’em out for the Person Hat record release show this Saturday at BLK Vinyl. If you’ve got somewhere else to be, turn on, tune in, and drop out to the album opener, “Nowhere”, because it’s sure to take you to a far out place with a lotta love in your heart and absolute magic in your ears.
