Technicolor Emotions: A Review of Minks' "Tides End"

The Brooklyn label, Captured Tracks, turns five this year. The label's roster, as a whole, leans towards a very specific sound with a few exceptions. New-wave indie dream-pop is what the bands of Captured Tracks seem to specialize in. However, even with a uniform sound, the bands of the label each operate their own unique niche. Wild Nothing are the perfectionists, with them yet to release a bad single, EP or album. Beach Fossils are the comeback kids, after releasing an average dream-pop record in 2010, they returned this year with the kick-ass Clash the Truth. Mac DeMarco is the resident weirdo. Holograms are the resident punks. Craft Spells are the loners, all the way in Seattle, specializing in emotional new-wave which was perfectly exemplified on Idle Labor. Heavenly Beat is the underdog, ex-Beach Fossils bassist John Peña now makes funky bedroom pop, yet he's still relatively unknown (check him out!). Alex Calder, is also a weirdo, and it's no coincidence he used to play with Mac DeMarco. DIIV is the overnight success, after playing 3.4 billion shows throughout New York and only releasing one album, the group's affinity with Nirvana is seemingly realized more and more in the passing years.

But where does Minks, the project of Sonny Kilfoyle, fit in? What space does he occupy on Captured Tracks? At first, he seemed to be the resident goth, with the sound emanating from his first LP, By the Hedge. The music quickly garnered comparisons to The Cure and other new-wave bands. But, Kilfoyle has cited The Cure as "a distant influence".

By the Hedge, was no doubt, a spotty record. Highlights like "Funeral Song" and "Ophelia" made up for the meandering songs like "Bruises" and "Boys Run Wild". Upon By the Hedge's initial release, it was quickly penned as lo-fi. For Tides End, Minks' great sophomore LP, Kilfoyle expressed a desire to move away from the "wall of sound" on his first album, and he's mostly successful with this release.

The title Tides End comes from a beachfront estate that Kilfoyle stumbled upon in East End Long Island, moving out there to cure some writer's block. The estate was owned by one family for generations, but they are suddenly forced to sell it for financial reasons. Kilfoyle took inspiration from this situation, seeing the rich sitting in the dunes, surrounded by their excess, awaiting their imminent doom. This mood portrayed fits the music on Tides End. Bright, electro-pop instrumentation is the backbone of the album, with Kilfoyle lamenting about lost love among other things. The financial situation of Tides End, comes through the song titles of Tides End. "Margot" is a Rococo painting, one song's called "Romans" and another's actually called "Playboys of the Western World".

Even though Kilfoyle was subjected to listening to early Chicago house by producer Mark Verbos, the new-wave inspirations are still prominent throughout the album. "Hold Me Now" is a gem of a pop song, with fuzzy guitars and synths, that Robert Smith would be proud of. And now that Kilfoyle's voice isn't obscured in noise, he's proved to be an adept singer, sounding like a mix between Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark's Andy McCluskey and Talk Talk's Mark Hollis.

Of course, with the stripping of the noise, Tides End reveals some lyrical blunders from Kilfoyle. There's the cringe inducing "don't worry about weekdays in 2022" and something about the purchasing of breast milk on "Romans".

But those are outweighed by the positives of Tides End. Kilfoyle has proved to be an effecting singer. From the venom tinged "happy birthday to the worst friend in the world" or how he aims the line "and now you're talking about some book I probably lent you" to an ex. On "Everything's Fine", Kilfoyle perfectly captures the feeling of self doubt on anxiety by declaring "everything's fine in my mind, when I'm far away".

Kilfoyle has also become a better storyteller through his lyrics. "Doomed and Cool" finds Kilfoyle following a former lover and her friends to the local park, and then commenting on how her new boyfriend's shaved his head. The song works as a double meaning, both of jealousy and the residents of Tides End, who are in fact "Doomed and Cool". There's also little details throughout the songs, like the borrowed book and boardwalk on "Painted Indian" or the spinning records of "Everything's Fine".

The final song, "Tides End", remains at a steady pace, never exploding into a much expected release for it being the closing song. Yet, the mood fits the narrative arc of Tides End along with the background story. After Kilfoyle's left by "Margot", finds himself trying to convince her to return on "Weekenders", stalks her on "Doomed and Cool", "Tides End" is where he finally (tries) to move on, wondering what's beyond "Tides End".

Hopefully there's something for him.

Minks - Tides End
8.5/10
Recommended Tracks - "Everything's Fine", "Margot", "Painted Indian", "Hold Me Now", "Doomed and Cool", "Tides End"