Black Africa’s first liberated colony, Gold Coast became Ghana in 1957 and raced away from the confines of history—the rural economy and limited possibilities of colonialism—towards a bold modernity that never panned out. The cities grew, only to fester with joblessness. By the early ’80s, starvation became a pressing concern. Military regimes put an end to Highlife, the Jazz-Calypso that had once so cheerfully evoked movement, not just of the feet, but of a people who had viewed independence as a national journey.

If theoretically, that post-colonial high had expired by the time Bokoor Band recorded Bokoor Beats—electric Highlife from the eve of ’80s privation—their nonchalant attitude doesn’t let on: “Bokoor,” after all, is Twi for “cool.” In the band’s case, its nonchalance is directed towards the limitations of history. The white British-born/Ghana-reared bandleader John Collins duets with Ghanaian vocalists as if colonialism never happened. Those front-men abdicate the stage to energized, female chanters, conjuring forth a gender co-existence that neither African nor Western society have yet to implement. Rapid clave patterns easily accommodate soaring electric leads. Collins’ Brit-Folk harmonica looks slightly backwards before the drums roll forward. Lyrically, “Yeah, Yeah, Ku, Yeah,” says all that need be said, while “Been To” castigates those foreign-educated Europhiles who so effectively thwart Black Africa’s growth. If the overflowing mix seems destined to topple over into catastrophic call-response confusion, it’s just barely contained by a recognizable support system in Western Pop: chicken scratch guitar, electric solos, drum solos, back when such African forms were still turning heads.

What Post-Colonial Ghana and the Highlife generation didn’t expect, is to trip while moving forward, as people often do. Recorded on the eve of one of mankind’s darkest decades, it’s hard to say whether Collins’ Bokoor Band saw itself prevailing over the future, or happily disregarding it. If nothing else, that ambiguity re-defines cool for a non-Twi speaking audience.