RIYL: Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Cat Power
Indie songsmith and eccentric artist extraordinaire Chad VanGaalen dips his toes into county music on the upcoming Shrink Dust. Slated for release April 29, the LP is VanGaalen’s 5th solo record and still contains plenty of droned out psychedelia to go along with the newly added pedal steel guitar and harmonica. Originally from Alberta, Canada, Chad’s first official LP Infiniheart was released in 2004 on the Flemish Eye label and was later picked up and re-released by Sub Pop in 2005. His third album, 2008’s Soft Airplane was nominated for Alternative Album of the Year at the Canadian Juno Awards and was also named to the shortlist for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize.
While VanGaalen’s sound is plenty unique, veering from spooky pared-down dirges to droned-out reverb soaked tracks, his skills as an artist and animator set him apart from the rest of the indie pack. Chad often does the artwork for his albums and has also done surreal animated videos for a number of his songs. He is currently working on an animated film, slated for release later this year, with songs off of Shrink Dust likely serving as a partial soundtrack.
The lead single off of Shrink Dust, “Where are You”, while catchy in its own way, is not for the faint of heart. With clanging metallic percussion and reverbed noise all but drowning out VanGaalen’s lyrics, the track is an assault to the senses, conjuring robots and space age cities as Chad assures his listeners that “the paranoia is alive and well.”
“Frozen Paradise” is a bit calmer, building from a quirky strummed verse into a catchy off-kilter chorus with techno-bass slaps and synth riffs. Think Foster The People, but much weirder. “Lila” mixes some country elements and layered vocal harmonies with trumpets and whistling for a retro feel, getting very close to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros territory.
Harmonica surfaces on “Weighed Sin” with mixed results but the country elements gel much better on the deep cut “Hangman’s Son”. VanGaalen uses a nice chord progression on guitar and clear vocals to tell the tale of a down and out character who eventually meets a sad demise. When all is said and done, Shrink Dust offers a charming mix of songs and deserves to be heard.
