I've only listened to this once, and I can already tell Ducktails' self-titled is definitely the best album to listen to while laying on a beach towel during the best summer day you've ever had. The first track "Backyard" kicks in. It's pretty much the best way to give a first-time listener an idea of how the rest of the album will sound. A lot of the tracks from this release, however, are also from previous Ducktails seven inches, EP's, tapes, etc. They're not even rerecorded to fit the release; they're kinda slapped on, probably via iTunes. For example "Beach Point Pleasant". In fact, a lot of these tracks are all on previous releases.
"Pizza Time" and "Friends" are OK. Then again, they both sound the same. Early 80's-esque drums that sound like someone's spitting on the mic start going and then a little guitar riff with some wah-wah added on and... that's pretty much it. Alright, alright, I still need to go on to other tracks. I forgot "Horizon"; it reminds me of a more tribal type of psychedelic pop but it just builds and repeats and repeats and repeats. "Dancing With The One You Love" is good too, at least it isolates itself. Particularly because of it's lower fidelity than everything else, it's melodic and pretty and same as everything else, just noisy. "Gem" sounds exactly like "Horizon" except the sound of the drums. "Daily Vacation" is decent, same *exact* sound but the guitar tone is a little different than it is on the other tracks. Oh, I already know this one, it's "The Mall", the only actual "pop" song on the album. It was originally released on the "II" cassette. It's my favorite Ducktails song. "Surf's Up" was also previously released on the "Acres of Shade" tape. I have to admit, it's a good outro to the album and fit well.
Overall, it's a somewhat decent listen. It's way too repetitive for my taste. Others may obviously think differently. I respect Matthew Modanile and I believe he makes good music. Evidently this album isn't a bomb due to its mentions around the blogosphere and I wasn't really expecting it to bomb. This isn't a review filled with criticism and hate, you may think it is. But I like it. I know what mood I need to be in to think it's good but that's exactly what I'm talking about it. I really like albums that I can listen to no matter the mood. It makes them convenient.
No comments:
Post a Comment