Once & Future Band - Brain

2017's self-titled debut album by Once And Future Band landed like the birth of a starchild-fully formed, otherworldly, yet comfortingly familiar in it's contours: Pink Floyd, ELO, Queen, Steely Dan, and Beach Boys rearranged into an unapologetically poignant pop moment, underpinned by four guys that could play their way out of a Faustian bargain. While waiting for whatever warlock's potion they are brewing up next, they've pulled the maxi-EP Brain from the vaults for a moment in the sun. All of the expected mastery is at play here; enough chops to make a vegetarian's mouth sweat, songs that tug at the heart while they play tricks on the mind, and with the steady hand of a of studio wizard sprinkling stardust around the edges just so.