Album Review – Singles and What Nots (2021-2023) by Couchboy (Subjangle)
Massachusetts based David MacDonald(aka Couchboy) is something of a modern day jangle-pop anomaly.
Not for him the current vogue of wearing the influences of just about every 80s anglo-indie-pop act that ever released for Sarah Records upon his sleeve, as he prefers to twist that trend and drift his sound a few years forwards, digging into a more 1990s based jangly muscularity.
As such we are treated to tracks best represented Sail Away, Tell me What I Feel and Even After which dangle the dulcet, slightly slacker-pop essences and guitar-pop melodies of Evan Dando/The Lemonheads before us, whilst always pulling away any sense of ‘cutesy accessibility’ from us courtesy of the modern propensity for perfect, bedroom-pop under production.
A similar sense of dulcet is experienced in the beauty of Peace of Mind and Secret. These tracks offer a R.E.M.“The One I Love” sense of ‘call into the dark’ cavernous, plaintive chime that no-one has really been able to replicate until now.
Occasionally MacDonald strides beyond his beautiful mid-tempo with the glorious power-pop effect of Blue Tomorrow and Between The Lines taking the listener to a place somewhere between traditional 90s power-pop and the jangly crunch of Velvet Crush to course a sense of energy through the general sense of melodic.
This release includes the vast majority of Couchboy’s catalogue so far with Subjangle adding him to their roster to showcase his talent and give him a well deserved physical format release.
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