June 21st, 2016 - The independent record label Scott Cooley Records of Michigan is proud to announce the release of solo artist Scott Cooley's 7th studio album, Rest Assured. Containing 13 new original songs, it is a full-length album that is available from Amazon in CD format, as well as in various digital formats in Apple Music, Google Play Music, Bandcamp, Spotify, and many other online music stores. This album features many of the elements of past Scott Cooley releases - the all-acoustic instrumentation, the high-quality songwriting, and the easy-to-detect garage rock influence. Combined with his signature singing and playing styles, this music is sure to provide existing fans with the fix they've been craving. You'll hear the nice-guy innocence of 50s and 60s rock with hints of 70s and 80s bad-boy rock...only acoustic. For those who have yet to discover what Scott offers, a line from the opening track, I Take Some Getting Used To, may describe it best as "an acquired taste." Real and human, this blend of alternative rock, folk, blues, and country is true midwestern Americana with unique takes on love, relationships, places and everyday experiences as simple as the joy of getting a Flint-style Coney dog with friends. Although there are a couple mid-tempo numbers and ballads such as Call Me Crazy, this album has more up-tempo songs than usual - like Hell On Earth which reveals the influence of acoustic punk pioneers Violent Femmes. The faster pace makes for an exciting ride, without temptation to forward to the next track during that first listen. Subsequent listens will let your brain start to take in more of the subtle details of Cooley's craftiness as the adrenaline flows and you begin to decide and then change your mind about which are your favorites. Cooley's wife Lenore makes a return appearance playing accordion on the almost spooky-sounding zydeco/blues hybrid track Something About New Orleans, and on Good For Me, which reveals a slight polka flavor. Scott dusts off his marimba again for some fine playing on Show Up, a song about the internet's affect on relationships. His harmonica is more subdued than usual as a background rather than solo instrument on the opening track as well as on No One To Call, the lone classic-country twanger on the album, while on Whatever Floats Your Boat, the solo is there in a return to the nautical theme prevalent on the Lakeside Landing album. Less bluesy and serious than his last album, Used To Be Good Looking, Rest Assured places more focus on fun and love songs, which makes it more like his fifth album Cherchez La Femme, although Where There's Smoke is a notable exception delivering an environmentalist message with a Native American vibe. The short-but-satisfying acoustic solos can be heard throughout, some featuring the slide guitar style on acoustic lap steel. The percussion ranges from simple brush-on-snare with djembe, to tambourine, bongos, cymbal, shaker, and even washboard. Handling all of this himself, along with the signature sound of acoustic bass guitar and nicely blended background vocals, makes the album yet another truly do-it-all-yourself effort. Perhaps more than anything, the most appealing thing you get with this album, just like with all Scott Cooley albums, is the sincere attitude and perspective. Whether it's sad or humorous, complaining or celebrating, it's nothing if not brutally honest. Hearing his take on things, his interpretive view of what he or his characters have experienced and observed, is like having a conversation with an old friend and remembering what a character they were, glad people like them exist in this world, and wishing you could get together more often.