Max is back
Written by Coog Radio on September 23, 2012
Former Makeout Videotape frontman Mac DeMarco first broke out in April with Rock And Roll Nightclub which was accompanied by a slew of off-the-wall iMovie promos and music videos. Being virtually a new face outside of Montreal, music bloggers all around looking to identify DeMarco’s sound, which he himself describes as “jizz jazz”, often referred to the group of songs as 80s-inspired, which isn’t too far off base.
Rock And Roll Nightclub definitely has a realized aesthetic. Recorded on an old 8-track, DeMarco took a DJ Screw approach to production by slowing everything down which not only gave his voice a deeper, warmer punch of bravado, but also gave the entire record an eerie warped mystique making it less of a polished 2012 release and more of an old demo tape forgotten by the golden age of sleaze. Riddled with power chords, catchy if not infectious melodies, overly-dramatic guitar soloing, Elvis-esque crooning, spot-on radio interludes, misplaced glamour (see “Baby’s Wearing Blue Jeans”), and 80s pop references (see “Moving Like Mike” and “Young Blood” [NSFW]), Rock And Roll Nightclub, as tongue-in-cheek as it is, made for a great first release.
To quote the Rock N’ Roll Nightclub teaser video, MAX IS BACK (a bit of post-internet humor with that misspelling), with a new track from his follow-up, Mac DeMarco 2. “Freaking Out The Neighborhood” is a groovy 3-minute standard that has Mac consoling his mother about his outlandish behavior (NSFW), singing “please don’t worry. Next time I’m home, I’ll still be the same.” This as well as the album’s first single, “My Kind Of Woman” has Mac opening up about who he really is. With Mac DeMarco 2, DeMarco opts for a higher fidelity, highlighting not only his talent as a musician, but his ability as a song-writer. His jangly guitar hooks amidst more a more dense and sophisticated chord structure have Mac making sense of this mysterious “jizz jazz”.
Mac DeMarco 2 is out October 16th on Captured Tracks. You can catch Mac and the band TONIGHT, 9/23, at Fitzgerald’s with Deep Cuts. If you’re lucky enough, maybe you can bum one of those Viceroy cigarettes Mac goes on about on twitter.
