His Clancyness
Vicious
FatCat Records
Street: 10.08
His Clancyness = Kurt Vile + Deerhunter + Midlake
His Clancyness is a solo endeavor spawned by the lead singer of little-known Italian indie group, A Classic Education. Within the first 10 minutes of Vicious, Jonathan Clancy easily demonstrates more of a strength within American melancholic bedroom rock than the average college slacker. The first track, “Safe Around the Edges,” serves as an appropriate executive summary for what to expect on the rest of the album: abstract yet snide lyrical imagery, weightless and warm vocals atop bare aesthetic textures that smack slightly of krautrock influences. There’s a revolving door of pop synth underlays throughout the album, which adequately fill in the gaps when the bittersweet, paunchy guitar rhythms aren’t lackadaisically turning out hook after hook. Clancy’s blatant disregard for emotion has birthed really great music—making this another rare display of how apathy is incredibly honorable. –Gregory Gerulat