โThe Chronicles of Coogee Bay Roadโ by Coogee Bay Road Band instantly tells you who these guys are, sun-soaked, tongue-in-cheek, and deeply rooted in their beachside Sydney surroundings. Across its eight tracks, the album feels like a beer in hand on a warm afternoon, crackling with livewire guitars, cheeky lyrics, and a kind of heartfelt irreverence thatโs very Australian. The opener, โCoogee Bay Road,โ sets the scene perfectly. You can practically smell the sea salt as waves roll in and sparkly guitar strums shimmer like sunlight on water. The lead vocals come in animated and vivid, inviting us down a road that feels half like a memoir, half like a tall tale told at a pub. From AC/DC references to Vegemite trials, it blends expat nostalgia with Aussie pride.
By the time we hit โEngaged,โ the band switches gears into bittersweet territory, but with their trademark wit intact. The opening beep of a phone that never gets answered becomes a motif for a situationship gone official with someone else. The drums are thumping, the harmonica sneaks in with a cheeky grin, and the lyrics land somewhere between heartbreak and a shrug.
Then thereโs โUnreasonable,โ which might be the albumโs most rebellious moment, dressed in upbeat, danceable rhythms while flipping the bird to every gaslighting authority figure out there. Strings slither between guitar grooves as the band goes full throttle against the kind of people who silence dissent by slapping on condescending labels.
Altogether, The Chronicles of Coogee Bay Road is a surfside jukebox of an albumโequal parts rock, rant, and rollercoaster.
STAY IN TOUCH:
FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | TIKTOK | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE
Review by: Naomi Joan