Earlier this year, ex-Makeout Videotape member and jizz-jazz extraordinaire Mac Demarco released his uncomfortably catchy solo debut Rock and Roll Night Club, an album that distanced its breezy melodies through radio static and interruptions from charismatic disc jockeys. Just this past Monday, another third of Makeout Videotape, ex-bassist Alex Calder (aka Collage Party), reached his fourth solo full-length of his Bandcamp catalog in the remarkable span of a year. Both Demarco and Calder are unimpeachably prolific and thrive in ragged-fidelity pop, but they operate differently.
Suki and Me is more devoted to authentic sounds of the 60s than his peer, resembling a nostalgic voyage a la Unknown Mortal Orchestra's debut. Look no further than the signature Phil Spectre beat that opens "Melting Moon" or the splashy wah permeating the title track: Calder almost outwardly lets his influences show, but how the song's chorus drifts in tandem with his cascading falsetto suggests that his eagerness to experiment allows its revivalist air to emanate from modern origins.
If there's one thing Calder can't escape, it's the commendatory "sleazy" tag often attributed to Demarco. During the slippery verses of "Location", he contradicts the tightly grooving instrumental passages with coolly harmonized tales of drinking, lethargy, and lost friends, and the clumsily humorous yet funky guitar solo he announces on "Marcel" seem neither accidental nor intentional-- they're consciously performed, reinforcing Collage Party's infectious lackadaisy. In short, Calder's equal parts a crafty producer, songsmith, and goof, projecting each angle through a film of leisure and daze.
[Stream/Buy Suki and Me from Collage Party]
RIP CALDER!
ReplyDeleteHe was a great sculptor. :,(
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