Strands
By habit, I have a tendency to stray away from solo acts. Whenever a release about a new solo artist comes through my inbox, I immediately become a little dismissive, picturing another singer-songwriter with nothing but an acoustic guitar and some lyrics about forests (or something). Of course there are numerous established exceptions, but my eyes tend to glaze over new names, which is exactly what I’m guilty of doing a few months ago when I saw Jon McKiel‘s first show up. It’s a regrettable habit, and something I’m now kicking myself for.
When first hearing the Haligonian’s “Strands,” your immediate reaction will likely be something like, “This sounds like Chad Vangaalen.” And it does. The slow-motion lo-fi jam adopts a straight-up rock style that’s underpinned with the same sense of weirdness that’s etched all over Vangaalen’s latest LP. And still, there’s enough quality hooks and lyrics embedded within this track that are distinctly McKielian, so much so as to silence any cries of one party having ripped off another.
“Strands” is pulled from McKiel’s upcoming LP, Tonka War Cloud, due out October 4 via Saved by Vinyl/Youth Club Records.
+MP3: Jon McKiel – Strands
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