Mikal Cronin
Mikal Cronin
Trouble in Mind
2011
Rating: 7.5 future pomegranates out of 10
Mikal Cronin might be usually get lumped in with the Bay Area garage rock crowd because of his work with Ty Segall, but this self-titled debut album by him is a pop record. Yeah, it might get a little fuzzy from time to time, but this is pop through and through. Lot's of oohs and aahs and tra-la-las and a million moments where you want to sing along with the man. The one-two punch of "Is It Alright" and "Apathy" is one of the best intros to a performer that I've heard since Superdrag's "Slot Machine" and "Phaser" on "Regretfully Yours".
That's not to say the record doesn't rock out as well, with "Green and Blue" and "Gone" two fine examples where the guitars and tempo get turned up. But the main impression is that of a young man who has a strong sense of melody, hooks, and sucking people like me into listening to their album many times in a row.
As a side note,that flute you hear in the opening track "Is It Alright" - none other than Bay area wildman John Dwyer. Is this a signal that his band Thee Oh Sees will soon be taking a Jethro Tull turn towards flute prog-rock? Let's just assume the answer is yes.
No comments:
Post a Comment