Kelly Stoltz is a man born out of time
Kelly Stoltz is a man born out of time. Attach a couple of electrodes and some fancy computer imaging software to Stoltz’s always-active brain, and you’ve uncovered the inner neurological meanderings of an artist who’s arguably more in tune with the freak-beating, acid gulping, psych-weaving San Francisco times than the morally agnostic and artistically derivative contemporary world. When he makes music, Stoltz holds up a mirror to the world around him, and finds images of a vibrant artistic age. And so it is with Stoltz’s latest album, To Dreamers. With previous records, Stoltz has taken inspiration from the psych-rock excursions of the 1960s; on To Dreamers he travels back in time and recreates the best of the psychedelic garage 1960s; warts, paisley, flowers, trips and all. Rock ’n’ Roll With Me channels the juvenile simplicity of the basic rock ’n’ roll formula: three chords, a protestation of love and a glorious pop sensibility. Pinecone is wistful folk through the countrified eyes of Glenn Campbell, the effervescent psychedelic pop Keeping The Flame is sharp enough to draw blood and Fire Escape stomps like a cavern full of Tacoma teenagers pilled up on Lenny Kaye’s finest nuggets.
Out of the garage, and Stoltz is a hopeless romantic with an eye for a tune that’ll bring tears to the most heartless of bastards; witness the Lou Reed-esque I Remember, You Were Wild and try and keep your facade, even for a moment. On Baby I Got News For You, Stoltz heads south down Highway 1 and writes the ultimate lost Byrds tune; a beautiful three minutes later, and it’s The Beatles in their full 1967 technicolour glory with Little Girl. I Don’t Get That is picture-perfect LA pop, August is Neil Sedaka with love in his heart and speed on his lips and Love Let Me In Again is bubblegum for the healthy of mind and pure of spirit.
Dreaming is vastly underrated – paradoxically, in a gadget-ridden world, the humble dream is better than any electronic contrivance. Kelly Stoltz has given us an album to dream with, and it’s a beautiful thing.
