Georgey V “Trying” / November 2017
https://georgeyv.bandcamp.com/album/trying
RIYL: The Kinks, Mac DeMarco, Kurt Vile
This is one of the better things sent to the DWP inbox in 2017. It is not trying to be special. It is not painfully, overly self-aware. It is calm and unassuming, and comes with an easy, swaying confidence. VERY reminiscent of the Kinks, it rolls along gently, just being what it is, which is a great lo-fi indie record.
So many musicians try to build on complicated riffs with more complicated parts, creating this horrible, boring cacophony of people who want to show off how talented they are. Recorded on an 8-track, “Trying” goes the other way–here we have simple parts, lovely punctuating cymbals, great bass lines, all layered together with fuzz and a few little surprises. Nice guitar work carries us through laid-back songs that throw back hard to the 1960s.
My favorite is “Modern Day Love Song,” a poppy, upbeat track that centers around a crunchy riff I believe is synth but may just be guitar with a lot of effects. “Nowhere Boy” is also a contender, with some beautiful fiddle/violin that reminds me of the way the light wanes on winter days you spend inside.
Also, can we talk about this album art? Simultaneously welcoming and hair-raising, a young man turns away from an evening campfire to offer the viewer a single rose, his hand open, inviting, but also just totally weird. I LOVE IT. Big ups to Sean Clark, who is listed as the artist.
Anyway, it’s just nice to hear something that makes no declaration about what it is. It’s a good reminder that our hearts are adequate creative compasses and we should stop giving so much of a shit about what’s popular right at this very moment, because good music will always sound good.
Digital Wheat Paste 