Dr Cosmo’s Tape Lab

Beyond The Silver Sea is an accomplished concept album from Joe Kane (The Owsley Sunshine) and Stuart Kidd (The Wellgreen) with narration (and artwork) from Plimptons and Khaki Shorts mainstay Adam Smith. Working under the moniker of Dr Cosmo’s Tape Lab, the trio take us on a trip through a galaxy of genres underpinned by a very British psych sensibility laid down on four-track tape.

From the frantic Cockney singalong of ‘Pie, Mash & Liquor’ to the lush Super Furryisms of ‘Space Dream’, there’s breezy wit and plaintive harmony on display at every turn. Both strong vocalists, multi-instrumentalists Kane and Kidd’s pedigree on bass and drums respectively ensures that even at its most whimsical the album oozes groove and feel, be it super-catchy pop (‘Dr Chester’s Pleasure’) or woozy psychedelia (‘The Long Sleep’).

‘The Mirrors Reflection’ (sic) is an especially adept slice of panoramic psych under the rainbow sweep of a mellotron, while the title track and ‘The Stars My Destination’ are gently anthemic, the latter augmented by descending glam chords. Indeed, the whole album seems to exist in an alternate early 70s landscape. The Kinksy paranoia of ‘Face Of Another’ wouldn’t seem out of place on the soundtrack of 1974’s dystopian UK drama Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs.

Smith’s narration sets the scene with aplomb, enhancing the sci-fi concept. That there’s heart and brio in abundance beyond the silvery seas of pastiche is a credit to the lads in the Lab.