Salad Days
Spunk
At the tender age of 23, DeMarco has all the cheek and spark of a young Malkmus and his second album, Salad Days, suggests that he may, too, have the chops.
Salad Days is a record that sounds considerably better than it should. DeMarco admits to using a guitar that he purchased for $30 when he was 16, using effects pedals that he doubts any other ‘serious musician’ would use and plays all of the instruments on the album whilst recording it at his home studio, Jizz Jazz Studios.
There is the off-kilter pop that has come to be expected of DeMarco with the laconic sounding Treat Her Better and wandering bass treat of Blue Boy. Let My Baby Stay sounds like a stifled version of M Ward and Passing Out The Pieces has overdriven organs and a smart melody to show that DeMarco is a maestro of the genre.
The relentless work ethic of DeMarco means that we won’t have too long to wax lyrical about Salad Days before he drops his next amount of skewed brilliance at us. This is one that is well deserving of its heavy rotation doing the upcoming cardigan days of winter.
CHRIS HAVERCROFT
