Craig Dermody's second long-player under this magical moniker sees him relocated in New York City, although you sense that wherever he lives he'll always be something of an outsider. A magnificent muddle of jangly guitars, story-telling lyrics shot through with equal amounts of humour and pathos, and a retro-musicality firmly routed in the early 90s - on the tellingly-titled '1993' he even sings "And I ain't done much changing in what I love since 1993". The album is kinda summed up by the track 'Fakin' NYC' wherein he states "I'm fakin' in New York City, I'll let you in in a secret of mine, I don't know what I'm doing any of the time".
Despite the slacker vibes there's some definite effort been put into this album - there are hooks and melodies aplenty, and I reckon it takes a lot of practice to perfect that barely-singing approach to vocals. It's hard to make a record that instantly feels like it's your friend, that you'd want to sit in a bar with and talk shit with all evening, but this album has that familiarity and warmness. It's a record whose sound and stories work equally as well in East London as they do in East Village, and perhaps, amidst the great hooks and charming songs, that's its greatest success. If he really is looking for any port in a storm then you should let Dermody take shelter in your harbour - your life will be all the better for it.
By the way, my cd copy of the album also came with the added bonus of a copy of the 'Two Weeks' EP from earlier this year (I assume they all do, at least initially?) which makes it even better value.
I'll leave you with this thought from 'Jackie Boy', which I imagine in one of Dermody's mantras;- "I dragged myself into the void until I had nothing left, when you've got nothing left you've still got rock'n'roll".
You can listen to some of the album's tracks ad even grab a free download or two below.
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