I Can Be Cool Posted by Junior

Bob & Gene: I Can Be Cool and Gotta Find A Way From: If This World Were Mine [Daptone, 2007] One thing I never get tired of in the world of digging is the reissue of gems thought lost to history. Not only does the music often dazzle and surprise, you can bet that the backstory will also offer up an intriguing mix of fate, devotion and, finally, crushed dreams. The Daptones have uncovered a gem of this type with their release of Bob & Gene's If This World Were Mine. I won't go into the backstory here but it's definitely worth checking out featuring all the required elements that make a digger's heart swell. There's always a danger with this type of project that the music itself is over glorified merely due to its unexpected unearthing but Bob & Gene's output would stand up if it had been a staple of compilations for the last forty years. I Can Be Cool exhibits such a raw charm that it won my heart as soon as it hit the deck. I've never been able to say no to songs about unrequited love and Bob & Gene's attempts at wooing are played out over a lo fi sound that complements their unpolished vocals brilliantly. I love the way the shuffling drums pick up in the final third to a kind of Soulful Strut melody performed on what to my untrained ear sounds like a couple of recorders. Bob & Gene were all about sweet soul and I Gotta Find A Way is so on the money it hurts. Once again exploring the world of that ever elusive girl's love the duo's voices play of each other to great effect. Maybe I'm just a sucker but I have my suspicions that this song would have half the power without the raw production. The two young guys singing their hearts out over the melody make this a special treat indeed.