Mark Cote: Fun House of Your Mind

It isn’t very hard to see from the onset that Fun House of Your Mind, Mark Cote’s latest concept record, is influenced heavily by the Beatles’ experimental period and Tom Waits’ general aesthetic. What’s so surprising about that is how on-target it is, from the carnival-esque opener to the straight-ahead pop of “Love Is Everything”. Unsurprisingly, the dedication to the recreation of the ’60s experimental era and the occasional dash of Tom Waits weirdness only adds up to something that feels like an homage rather than something original. There’s virtually no distinguishing marks to be found within Fun House of Your Mind but the songs themselves are so perfectly constructed and enjoyable that it’s hard to care too much.