Rembert & the Basic Goodness – ‘Yesterday Head’ [Album Review]

Brooklyn-based cabaret-pop outfit Rembert & the Basic Goodness recently released their sophomore album, Yesterday Head, an exploration of past relationships and their impact on the present.

Formed in 2016, the band is made up of Rembert Block (lead vocals, accordion), Russell Alderson (bass, vocals), Jagoda (drums), and Jeff Hudgins (saxophone). In 2018, Rembert & the Basic Goodness released their debut album, Stay Plastic, featuring “Wally Lamb.”

Rembert & the Basic Goodness have performed at Rockwood Music Hall, Pangea, The Way Station, Footlight, Pete’s Candy Store, and The Treehouse at 2A.

Talking about Yesterday Head, Block says, “And as I think more about the record as a whole, I see it as an attempt to record my own Love School lessons.”

The album begins with “Words/Eyes,” a song that for some reason conjures up memories of the Beatles because of its unique blend of sounds, like a potpourri of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. Block’s luscious sing-song vocals imbue the lyrics with an imaginative, surprisingly alluring flow.

According to Block, “Words/Eyes” is “about the experience my father might have had when he came across entries in my mother’s diary about an affair she was having, transgressions (both the diary-reading and the affair itself) which ended their marriage when I was seven and too young to understand.”

Highlights on the album include “Love School,” with its gospel-like intro that transitions to a back-and-forth swaying melody topped by Block’s evocative vocals backed by charmingly loose harmonies.

Rembert & the Basic Goodness, photo by Shervin Lainez

The lyrical thrust of “Love School” revolves around failed romantic relationships and an inability to commit. Looking for guidance, Block appeals to the goddess of love, Aphrodite, for tutoring.

There’s a chugging Motown feel to “Slippery” because of its blatting saxophone and vibrant energy. The title track opens on a braying, almost wailing saxophone and then transitions into a blend of blues textures tinted with funk lite.

A personal favorite, “Corazon” travels on a gooey Latin rhythm and features a spellbinding saxophone solo dripping with heartache and sensuality. The retro pop-punk vibe of “How Are You,” a song Block says was inspired by the Ramones, allows Block to reveal the flamboyant range of her voice.

In a world where most music fits into a template, the cabaret pop of Rembert & the Basic Goodness comes close to being deliciously revolutionary.

Yesterday Head Track Listing:

1. Words/Eyes
2. You Tell Yourself
3. Love School
4. Sun Won’t Let Go
5. Slippery
6. Here Today Gone Tomorrow
7. Yesterday Head
8. Mrs. May
9. Corazon
10. How Are You

Run Time: 31:49
Release Date: October 22, 2024
Record Lavel: Independent