Mac DeMarco
This Old Dog
[Captured Tracks]
Affability has always been Mac DeMarco’s modus operandi. Arriving into an indie landscape that was wilting under the strain of a self-imposed po-facedness, DeMarco’s 90s aping goofball nature and effortless pop nous was so refreshing it quickly set him apart as one of the most engaging and instantly likeable voices in guitar music. Now, five years on from the release of his debut Rock and Roll Night Club, DeMarco has arrived at a kind of melancholic maturity.
This Old Dog is intermittently affecting in a way few could have anticipated on first exposure to this gap toothed Cannuck known for jamming his thumb up his own butt. DeMarco has, against all odds, managed to imbue his slack ditties, laid back to the point of horizontal as they may be, with a newfound sense of stakes.
…Dog is obsessed with ageing and regret, each song reading as if DeMarco is delivering them to his own reflection in a pool as it ripples and distorts the image into a shape he can no longer quite recognise. Where once stood tail-wagging abandon there is now a broad strokes profundity as the spirit of another sadsack savant who shares a certain comic bent and a penchant for lyrical self-flagellation, Harry Nilsson, looms large over the record.
Less immediate than previous LPs and with a palette of acoustic guitars and crummy budget synths that garners proceedings with an even mellower hue than usual, …Dog marks a welcome turning point and arguably a high water mark.
Words – Danny Wilson
Like this? Try These:
Harry Nilsson – Nilsson Schmilsson
Shintaro Sakamoto- How to Live with a Phantom
Jerry Paper – Fuzzy Logic
