No one could ever accuse Cotton Mather leader Robert Harrison of lacking ambition. His band’s latest project promises a 64-song cycle, with each tune representing a hexagram from the I Ching. Wisely, Death of the Cool boils down the concept to 11 tunes, with content in the lyrics and a website for anyone looking. Let’s face it, though: We’re only here for the hooks. “The Book of Too Late Changes” – based equally on No. 24, “The Return,” and the Who’s mid-Sixties attack – boasts an exemplary specimen from Harrison’s seemingly endless collection of instant classics. After that opening salvo, his local quartet slathers on sweet country rock (“Candy Lilac”), plangent balladry (“The Land of Flowers,” “The Middle of Nowhere”), sneering lysergic groove (“Waters Raging”), winsome midtempo introspection (“Never Be It”), and more. Death of the Cool reveals melodic gems at every turn, regardless of spiritual bent.

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This article appears in August 5 • 2016.

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Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.