In music, there's something I like to refer to as the "click". The "click" is really just when the music clicks with the listener. When the listener realizes the genius of whatever they're listening to. It's great when you realize how great the music is upon first listen, but it's the music that burns slowly that's even better. It'll slowly unfurl, revealing it's brilliance to you.
Some examples of a "click": waiting for my best friend outside the Dunkin Donuts on Court Street, three days before Christmas while listening to Pavement's Slanted and Enchanted. Listening to Merchandise's Children of Desire on a flight back from London to New York. Walking through Dumbo, post Hurricane Sandy listening to El-P's Cancer 4 Cure. On an empty Q train at six in the morning, listening to Willis Earl Beal's Acousmatic Sorcery.
But a couple days ago, I think I had the most important "click" yet (most likely to be replaced by something else soon, but who cares?). I was walking on the Brooklyn waterfront, while the sun was setting at 9:00 pm. There had just been a thunderstorm and the air smelled like wet pavement. The good ol' iPod Classic was on shuffle, and King Tuff's "Just Strut" had just finished. Following the Mighty Tuff, were some cheap sounding guitars, almost sounding like Parquet Courts, but much more gentle and wistful. Then, the voice came in, crooning "viceroy, early in the morning". What did I realize? I realized it was Mac DeMarco's "Ode to Viceroy". Quickly fumbling to grab my iPod from my pocket, I scrolled quickly to Mac DeMarco's 2. I listened to the half hour duration of 2 while wandering around Brooklyn as the sun set.
Mac DeMarco's Canadian. A couple of years ago, that wouldn't have meant anything unless you were Feist or part of Broken Social Scene (or as Sub Pop stated, "there was a time when you needed 18 members to be a band in Canada"). But now with a bevy of new musicians emerging from Canada, DeMarco is a welcome presence along with Metz, White Lung, Doldrums, Grimes, Fucked Up and some band who I don't talk about much, Japandroids.
Mac DeMarco is sleazy, slimy and a genius. With Alex Calder he was Makeout Videotape and made scuzzy, fuzzy garage pop that was recorded in a garage in Vancouver. He then struck out on his own at age 21, releasing Rock and Roll Nightclub on the Brooklyn label, Captured Tracks. The album was creepy and sometimes felt like a parody, with DeMarco singing in quiet baritone, glam rock impersonations, or having skits of him playing a demonic radio DJ. The lyrical content was downright weird. On "Baby's Wearin' Blue Jeans", DeMarco lusted after a woman because of the jeans she was wearing.
Mac DeMarco walked a line between a creepy crooner and a straightforward singer/songwriter on Rock and Roll Nightclub which was the album's downfall. Mac didn't exactly know who he wanted to be on his first album. On 2 (released only nine months after Rock and Roll), Mac DeMarco perfected his craft to make a career defining, perfect album.
In regards to discussing the genius of Mac DeMarco, and how it's reflected through 2 requires discussing the 11 songs of 2. So here we go.
The genius begins with "Cooking Up Something Good", which opens with some loose guitars before falling into an almost mechanical pattern with the drums. But the lyrics are where Mac shines, with him painting a mundane picture of family life in the first verse. His daddy's the pride of the neighborhood, his mommy's cooking up something good, his brother's in the ballet ("it seems he's got it set") and then there's Mac, up at midnight smoking his cigarette. After the chorus ("oh when life moves this slowly / just try and let it go") we learn his dad's the pride of the hood, because he's cooking meth in the basement and getting one of his sons to sell it for him. Our expectations of what the song would be are completely flipped, and the most heartbreaking moment is when we learn what Mac is doing through all of this. He's still up at midnight, but this time, he's chewing nicorette.
The album slides into "Dreaming", featuring languid guitar tones and Mac singing in a tired voice. Again, the genius of Mac shows, because he flips our expectations of the song again. We think it's a love song, with him finding the perfect woman but then in the chorus we hear "dreaming / I'm only dreaming". "Freaking Out the Neighborhood" is next, and it almost feels like a sequel of "Cooking Up Something Good". The main protagonist returns home and realizes how nothing's changed since he's left. The song also acts as an apology to his mother, while at the same time referencing how strange Mac is. "It's no fun / when your first son / gets up to no good / starts freaking out the neighborhood!"
There's album highlight "Ode to Viceroy", but first there's one of the album's many love songs, "Annie". It's one of the album's many love songs, with jerky guitars and Mac pleading to "Annie" wanting her to sit next to him before revealing "daddy won't let me". "Ode to Viceroy" features shimmering guitar arpeggios, but at the same time, they are kind of unsettling. It's a love song in the least traditional sense. It's an ode to a brand of cigarettes ("ohhh honey / I'll smoke you 'till I'm dying"), notoriously the worst tasting cigarettes as well. The song fades into dueling guitar solos, which both feature precision.
What follows is a trio of love songs, "Robson Girl", "The Stars Keep On Calling My Name" and "My Kind of Woman". On "Robson Girl", Mac sings in a pained voice asking if him and his lover can try this again when they're older (guess it's not working out). Mac doesn't exactly "shred" but he makes an attempt on "Robson Girl". Mac bought his guitar for $30 when he was 16. It sounds it. "The Stars Keep On Calling My Name" acts both as a love song and a song about escape. He's trying to convince the girl he loves to skip town with him, even though they don't know what exists in the outside world. Another album highlight follows, "My Kind of Woman". It features guitar arpeggios similar to "Ode to Viceroy". The guitars are wistful and Mac declares that you're "[his] kind of woman" ("my oh my, what a girl").The instrumental "Boe Zaah" precedes the final two songs, "Sherrill" and "Still Together". "Sherrill" is another love song, possibly being the least original of the album (but it's no big deal). What makes the song interesting, is that through Mac's laconic lyrics, there's references to him being fired from multiple jobs. Mac made a move to Montreal once, but because he couldn't speak French he had to take strange and sometimes demeaning jobs. He signed up for multiple human science experiments and held a job at an animal morgue.
The album ends with the beautiful and mellow "Still Together". Accompanied by only a lightly strummed acoustic guitar, Mac gives us his biggest surprise yet. A beautiful falsetto in the chorus, that is unwavering and doesn't break once. After an album, where love has gone wrong for Mac, it's nice to see that him and his significant other are "Still Together". Maybe it's the same girl from "The Stars Keep On Calling My Name" and "My Kind of Woman". The song is dedicated to his girlfriend, Kira, who's living in the apartment her and Mac share in Montreal while he's on tour. The song ends with hushed dialogue: Mac wakes Kira up, tells her it's time to bed, tells her he has to leave at the moment, tells her he loves her, and then we hear a door close.
And 2 is over.
Critics like to relate Mac DeMarco to modern folkies like Cass McCombs and Kurt Vile. Despite how brilliant these two are, Mac isn't one of them. Mac is a complete weirdo and Vile and McCombs aren't. Mac belongs in the ranks of King Tuff, Sam France and Jonathan Rado of Foxygen and Alex Coxen and the rest of our boys from Milk Music.
In regards to weirdo wannabes Alt-J/∆, Pitchfork asked "where'd all the real weirdos go"?
They're right here.
man, i was also caught by this song... he sounds perfectly. The vocals, the guitars.. everythins about this guy is really awesome. it reminds me a lot the early pavment's albums.. mac demarco is something between the fuzzy slanted and enchanted and the sensible and catchy wowee zowee. I think that, as a fan of pavement, it's impossible, for me, don't like mac demarco. He's a genius and my favorite performer along with kurt vile, bu somehow, mac is bigger and more brilliant than kurt.. Anyway, awesome record and still hard to say what's album is better: 2 or salad days, the both are perfect in it's own ways. Mac Demarco is, indeed and without a doubt, the best artist of this new generation...
ReplyDeleteI stumbled upon this by accident (I actually wanted to know if Mac spoke french), but since I'm not usually very sober when listening to his songs I had failed to pick up on the subtleties of the lyrics that you list here, so that's kind of nice. I'm not usually a fanboy of artists either, but something about his music and his personality just clicks with me. I'd just like to add that although Viceroy cigs are utterly terrible indeed, he's actually gone on record saying he legitimately likes them, and by far prefers them to other brands such as Gauloises or Sheriff.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, just a bit of shameless self-promotion, if you're ever looking for some music you could check out my little music corner on the Internet :(www.davidcian.tk/theMusicCornerPage.html), it would make me really happy, and maybe you'll find something you like :).