Ducktails
The Flower Lane
Domino / Playground

Ducktails is the solo-project of Matt Mondanile of New Jersey outfit Real Estate, who's 2011 album Days was quite a comforting piece of work, and I had the pleasure of seeing them perform live when they visited Oslo in December 2011. As Ducktails he's now releasing his 4th album.

The Flower Lane's about 'sophisticated guitar pop'. 80s Brit acts Aztec Camera and Prefab Sprout are name-dropped, though I'm not quite sure if they're fitting references. The albums holds ten tracks; nine originals, plus a cover of Kiwi-rocker Peter Gutteridge's (an early phases bassist from two legendary New Zealand bands; The Clean and The Chills) "Planet Phrom" (off Pure, a 1989 cassette release).

I'm not sure what to say about this album. I don't really get it. Maybe I should give it some more spins. Opener "Ivy Covered House" is a fine pop song. There's a couple more songs sounding nice/different (namely "International Date Line" and "Academy Avenue" - the latter sounding as a blend of The Blue Aeroplanes and The Feelies) as well, but basically the album leaves a feeling of being too slick, too smooth, tending to become boring. At least to my pair of ears. The Gutteridge cover is neat, though - it's always nice to hear good pop gems from down under.

Sorry, Matt. This didn't work for me.

Copyright © 2013 Håvard Oppøyen