St Ranger

              Hm, a lot of things seem to be going on in Arizona, musically-speaking. Or maybe being such a fan of warm weather has me constantly looking towards there especially after such a cold winter. Whatever the reason, I’ve been kind of interested in what’s been going on there.

                St Ranger comes from Tempe, Arizona with a nice penchant for wordplay (their webpage shows themselves as strangerarizona, an appropriate and fitting description of what they do). Going over their tiny internet presence they are five guys who appeared in a series of fairly unsuccessful bands. You know the usual young guy thing (and these guys are extremely young). It is nothing that can be helped, similar to how Australians tour around the world for a couple years for little to no reason. After getting little to no coverage, they came together and busted out a bandcamp page. Then they toured around the Southwest for a while and had some positive feedback. 

                Now they’ve stated they sound similar to Grizzly Bear. That seems a bit right, perhaps Grizzly Bear mixed in with a bit of Surfer Blood. Looking over the bands they’ve toured with, I see a perennial favorite and the tragically on-definite hiatus Women. Women might be the closest comparison I can come up with, think of a clean shaven Women and you’re halfway there.

                “Ohnowoe” is their first polished offering to the world. Listening to it, I’m reminded the 80s mining has shifted to the late 80s. The build on the song is quite nice; it reminds me of some kind of fantastic, sun-bleached summer day. You know the kind where you do absolutely nothing productive but swim and drink beer. A great day is contained within the five minutes or so in this song. Despite their recent origin, they have a knack for hitting all the right points, the tone, vocals, etc. If this is the opener, I’m keen to see what follows. Since it is free and pretty excellent, I'd suggest checking it out.

                They’ve announced an album is expected sometime in the summer. For a band that seems to be summer’s child, that makes complete sense.

Ducktails – Ducktails III:Arcade Dynamics 7.9

                 Matthew Mondanile works many jobs: besides his better known gig in “Real Estate” he does these personal jams. Compared to his last album, this one feels a bit more organic, a bit less stuffed-sounding. Each song feels like it was exposed to excessive amounts of sunshine and joy. The carefree attitude doesn’t really leave at any point throughout the album. If you’re familiar with his previous stuff, this new material shouldn’t come as a major surprise.

                “In the Swing” sounds like a jaunt through a quaint seaside neighborhood. Most of the songs elicit similar reactions from me. Nostalgia is Matt’s main draw here, but I think his work is more interesting than a lot of his hypnagogic peers. For one, he infuses a great deal of soul. His recording process may be lo-fi, but it doesn’t sacrifice the quality of the song itself, like others enjoy doing.

                Songs like “Sprinter” (what I used to be in high school) and the fragile “Little Window” remind me that summer isn’t that far away with this stuff coming near. “Killing Vibe” is probably one of my favorites on here, besides the obvious EP songs from “Hamilton Road”. “Porch Projector” has the worst fidelity and the most otherworldly nature to it. At times it sounds like guitar strumming being summoned from an alternative universe, one where John Fahey was famous and Garth Brooks starved to death. It is a perfect closer.

                I’m glad this came out in the dead middle of winter. Ducktails will keep you warm until springtime.