Cassette Review: Matt LeMay-Singles

Things don’t really change in Matt LeMay’s world. At least, that’s the impression one can get while listening to Singles. LeMay used to front a band called Get Him, Eat Him, who were around for five to six years, released a few albums and singles, and then broke up in 2009. Listening to Singles though, the unassuming cassette collection of the three digital singles LeMay has released over the past year and a half, one would be inclined to think that Get Him, Eat Him never really broke up. LeMay is still crafting the same hyper power-pop influenced indie rock gems he’s always made, just by himself, and in the slightest of reduced forms. But that is OK because the seven songs on here are seven songs of hyper power-pop influenced indie rock glory.

Like a mix between a more hi-fi version of the Capstan Shafts and later period Guided by Voices, LeMay crafts quick, infectious nugget that don’t last longer than three minutes but cram six minutes worth of music within that time span. Opener “Right Jacket Pocket” is the perfect presentation of LeMay’s sound; simple, sharp but sunny guitar strumming coupled along with LeMay’s high-pitched yet sturdy vocals. The song, after laying down this deeply addictive groove explodes into a million different hooks that it had been building to since the song had begun.

It’s truly impressive how much LeMay is able to get out of just guitar and drums to make his. True, the tracks are layered near ad infinitum, but that’s beside the point. There is a simplicity here to LeMay’s songs that should not be mistaken for a lack of trying, but should be seen as how much LeMay has streamlined his craft. He knows how to make a killer pop song, and makes them so, so well, filled with little flourishes that enhance everything. The harmonies and little jangle added to "Compare and Contrast". The way he is able to make his cover of The Game Theory's "The Only Lesson Learned" sound just like his own style with just a few dashes of synth. How just by dropping the drums in "By Half" it becomes this perfectly morose tune that after all the energy of the last six songs, ends ends the tape on just the right darker note. The program repeats on both sides of Singles for good reason; after the songs breezy by during the first listen, the desire to hear them all again is far too strong to ignore.





Links:

Matt LeMay's Website
Buy Singles here, from Mirror Universe Tapes