“Slush Puppy Love,” the first track from Makeout Videotape’s Heat Wave, is nothing short of a smack in the face of youth and enthusiasm when the chords ring in, pushing needles into the red. It’s distorted to shit because it’s recorded poorly on a laptop, but for one guitar, one floor tom and one snare drum, these two releases are quite the beachside party. Mac DeMarco’s voice goes between half-talking-half-singing and falsetto ‘Oohs’ while he’s mostly singing about young love. “You’re what I want/come surround me,” he sings on “Basketball Kids.” On Eating Like a Kid, released not even a year later, DeMarco’s expanding his vocal and song writing ranges—he goes from the surf pop of “Swim Dream” to the ’60s doo-wop of “Deborah” to the sober indie pop of “Because I’m a Boy” on which he sounds almost like one of the dudes from Grizzly Bear. He’s going in so many directions and, hell, even the recordings sound cleaner. Eating Like a Kid is going on my year-end list. That is, unless Makeout Videotape makes another two or three recordings this year. (Unfamiliar, www.areyoufamiliar.com) Taylor Benjamin Burgess
Winnipeg music & culture since 1989