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This album reminds me of home.

In New Zealand, at lest with my family and friends, one of the highlights of any get together or meeting or hangout or whatever is the 'Beach BBQ'. This is a pretty self explanatory, it's just a good ole BBQ that we happen to have on the beach. It's not a complicated thing to wrap your head around, yet there is this specific vibe to the whole event that I've never pinned down. It's an extremely wholesome event, with good food, great company and a lovely vibe. But most importantly to me (and to some extent this review), there is this feeling that I have when this event happens. Very chilled and laid-back, very in the moment and very positive. It's like a man with an acoustic guitar singing his heart out, but with friends and family with a fire, a BBQ and just the open ocean.

So what's this got to do with Mac 'Slacker King' DeMarco? Well, this album has that same feeling. The laid back, acoustic, chilled out with this smokey yet free atmosphere in audible form is here, and it's in this album. So what makes this different from all the other acoustic tinged music that I've previously disliked? Because technically all of those albums that haven't liked have those qualities.

Well, with Mac Demarco, there is this certain threshold of sharpness, of urgency, of dynamics and of sheer positivity that can be seen even with this undercurrent of darkness that is throughout the album. Even though there is some tension and dark themes in the lyrics, it just feels to smile-ready to completely take over the album. I'm pretty sure Cooking Up Something Good is about selling meth in a suburb, but the song just has this peachy, fun and laid back groove that it cant be seen as anything other then just a good time.

Plus, the music here just SOUNDS like it came from those Sausage-scented beaches of my childhood. The noodly bass work, the tight drums, the airy and distant guitars and those catchy, low-key and absolutely essential vocals that stew the pot into something truly sweet. Hell, Freaking Out The Neighborhood is a song that literally feels like it was a dance track lifted from those days out with the family. The ending to Ode to Viceroy sounds like my smoker uncle! Like, word for word!

But the weird, almost 'are you reading my mind' moment I have with this album are the lyrics, which look back at the feelings, the emotions, the identities and the struggles of childhood. From love, loss and learning to deal with addiction, trouble making and all the nitty gritty moments in becoming who you are that really kinda touched me. This record already sounds like i'm at those beaches with my family, but the lyrics make me feel how the days in between felt. When I was goofing around with my friends. When I was bummed out about love. When I was becoming who I am now.

This, while not the deepest or most complex album in existence, is an album that's pretty close to my heart. Strong songwriting, solid production, great performances and a aesthetic and vibe that I absolutely adore.

Hopefully i'm going back to the beach this summer. I've been dying to have one of my uncles famous Brunt BBQ Burgers. He puts just enough tomato sauce and cheese to make it only slightly inedible, but enough to make if amazingly delicious. There's really nothing quite like it.

Favorite Jams: Annie, Robson Girl, Freaking Out the Neighbourhood

Lest Favorite: Boe Zaah