Jack Cooper and James Hoare quickly became friends after Jack’s band (Mazes) was on tour supporting James’ band (Veronica Falls). After sending demos back and forth, ULTIMATE PAINTING was formed under their partnership.
Cooper and Hoare have brought their heads together and crafted an album’s worth of glinting guitar pop gems. Ten songs are sprinkled with minimalistic percussion and vibrant guitar action, guided by the gently cooing vocal duo of Cooper and Hoare. Ultimate Paiting is an arguably simplistic batch of guitar-driven pop, but its effects are long-lasting, thoughtful and memorable.
Bright guitars noodle about in “Ten Street,” forming a glowing swirl that’s led by marching snare drums. They reveal the hummable chorus – “I don’t know the reason for this desperation” – like they do in many of these tracks. It blows wide open with a psych-fueled guitar scrawl as if it’s howling at the moon, closed out with a ghostly piano melody. They’re at it again in “Talking Central Park Blues,” citing another infectious vocal hook, “I want to be alone with you.” Guitars jangle underneath a teasing desert haze, leaving you no other choice but to sing along. “Riverside” keeps their striped-down pop flowing smoothly, complete with bare-bones percussion and colorfully buzzing synthesizers for a bleary-eyed result. The album closes with a blissful twang in “Winter in Your Heart.” Jewel-toned guitars radiate warmth through a cold, snowy night, wrapping up the album with an uplifting stream of bright, harmonious vocals.
Listen to these choice cuts below and go grab the LP from Trouble in Mind Records today!
My Rating: SS
Genre/ Tags: Pop, Psychedelic, Minimal, Blues Rock, Ethereal
Ultimate Painting LP: Tracklist:
1.) Ultimate Painting
2.) Can’t You See
3.) Talking Central Park Blues
4.) Riverside
5.) Ten Street
6.) Rolling in the Deep End
7.) Three Piers
8.) Jane
9.) She’s a Bomb
10.) Winter in Your Heart
BUY the LP from Trouble in Mind – randomly mixed colored vinyl !
Ultimate Painting on Tumblr
Styrofoam Drone 
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