Though for a time his puckish grinning and lackadaisical personality might have been the most immediately recognizable aspects of
Mac DeMarco
's public image, his perfectly arranged yet unlabored songwriting is what's always truly set him apart.
DeMarco
's fascinating perspectives and uniquely wobbly production updated the time-honored pop song format for a new generation of artists who were making straightforward melodic rock music of their own, and records like his 2014 slacker pop capstone
Salad Days
were instant classics.
's style matured somewhat as he went along, but from the start he snuck sly jazzy chords and other subtly intricate musicality into his would-be straightforward indie rock. Completely instrumental album
Five Easy Hot Dogs
leans more toward this side of
's creative energy than his excellence as an unassuming songwriter, though it still captures some of the off-kilter production and arrangement vantage points that define his sound. Recorded in transit as
moved through various stops on a road trip, the 14 pieces here were all written in and named after the towns they were created in. As a result, the production is no-frills and the songs themselves are pleasantly spare. Many consist of little more than smooth basslines and wispy synth kept afloat by extremely simple drum parts. The album is presented in the chronological order the songs were recorded in, beginning with the light wafts of acoustic guitar and synth on "Gualala" and ending at "Rockaway" in a similar (if slightly more bossa nova) mood. "Vancouver 2" is slightly more reflective than most of the other tracks, and the slowly scraped percussion ridges of "Edmonton" sound almost like a strained motor on a dying cassette four-track. The percussion is where
seems to be having the most fun throughout
, with the smiling stoner funk of "Chicago" and the warped "Victoria" (the song most in line with his signature production bleariness) all rich with clicks and knocks of interesting wood blocks and gueiro sounds. The album is light, flowing, and friendly, sounding like low-energy library music on tracks like "Chicago 2." This release is probably more for
super fans than casual listeners, as there's nothing resembling the happy-go-lucky hooks of his best-loved songs, just the incidental sounds collected on a slow, aimless wander. ~ Fred Thomas