Mac Demarco - Freaking out the neighbourhood
Runs for 2:53
I struggle to handle the funkiness of this song.
Always makes me up my pace and grin like an idiot when walking. For reals.
I got into this guy around three weeks ago. I’ve loved his stuff straight from the first listen! It’s dag rock basically. His first album, Rock and Roll Nightclub which was also released this year, was very goofy lyrically, held some completely funky music work and made for some very cool listening. However, two albums in one year leads me as a cynic to ask the question of whether he’ll be able to keep a good standard of music. Luckily enough though, the answer is yes. Maybe to a degree wherein some of the weaknesses of Rock and Roll Nightclub have been ironed out.
Now something you’ll get from the first listen is that the music uses some very weird tone work. There’s a bit of flange going on and the whole album has got this pre 90’s psychedelic vibe to it. Not so much as other releases but the tone is in such a way that makes the music sound a lot older than what it really is – quite retro really. The instrumentals have, and always will be a strength on Mac Demarco’s albums. It all sounds really cool and my housemate has a video of me dancing around to it with ease due to this evident funk that is incredibly easy to move, strut and shake to.
I said before that the first album had weaknesses. Mac Demarco’s first album had some cool tracks, but lyrically they were pretty silly and it’s hard to explain it but the song writing on a few tracks was pretty weak. The weaker songs on the album followed a formula – average lyrics with good instrumentals and then a solo at the end. All well and good as long as you don’t repeat this. On this album, he’s opted to shift away from his deep, semi soul vocal style and moved on to a higher range that sounds typical of indie-pop. A lot of the songs are pretty light hearted and have that weird twinge in the tone that’s signature to Demarco’s tracks. Good example of this: The Stars Keep On Calling My Name. Sounds a bit like a typical upbeat indie track, nice and fast but slaps a nice weird solo at the end of it with this weird effect, making it sound that much cooler.
I’d say one of the weaknesses of the album is that it starts off pretty funky but kind of trails off at around the end. There are good, fast or funky tracks and they get broken up by some slower, more melodic tracks. However, towards the end of the album, the tracks start getting slower and it doesn’t really pick up again from there. Besides that though, it’s all easy listening. If you decided to listen to the first half of the album while on a walk, you’d probably really said walk. If you decided to slap the second half of the album while chilling out at home, you’d probably enjoy that too. The album finishes up with the first acoustic effort he’s made on either album with Still Together and really closes it all up nicely. All in all, what he does good, he does really good. On the next album he does, I’d like to see some well done acoustic tracks, much more solid funk rock and maybe a mix up in the way his songs work – it’s all constructed in a rather typical rock method rather than any challenging structure.
Reccomended for: People who’d want to see a love child between The Bee Gees and... oh shit god knows who else. It's really funky though. I think fans of Late of the Pier could really appreciate this, even though they sound very different. Personally I think it's kinda like Tame Impala (loosely) but better (definitely). Everyone should listen though.
Side note: Check out Mac Demarco's facebook page here. He maintains a pretty funny web presence, I gotta admit.
Mac Demarco - Ode to Viceroy
Runs for: 3:53
Very relaxed track. Apparently it's about Cigarettes. Personally it's not up there with my faves but a load of people are rating this the best song on the album.
Mac Demarco - The Stars Keep On Calling My Name
Runs for: 3:53
Pretty obscure track - but pretty much captures the essence of the album... Bit weird, but fun.
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