Oh, Colin Clary. A cornerstone of the twee pop community, creating effervescent, whimsical songs about riding mopeds and enjoying listening to records. So hurrah for his new solo record, Apocalypse Yow!” Just as fantastic news: the album comes from Asaurus Records, a handmade CD-R label. The cover of Apocalypse Yow! is a working paper fortune teller! Even better!
This new record is 17 songs (one of which is a cover of Richie Valens’s “Donna”) that largely search for the bright corners of dark days. Many times, songs from Apocaylpse Yow! feels like a warm cup of hot cocoa on a chilly day, especially “The Year of Having Fun” and “Thank You (For Making Me Slow Dance).”
The album isn’t all shiny, though. When Apocalypse Yow! isn’t dancing about sparse keyboards and drums, it chugs along with straightforward indie pop songs with just an acoustic guitar. These songs absolutely glow. They, also, tend toward the somber side, dripping with desperation and regret, especially “The Year of Having Fun” and “You Don’t Have to Prove,” a driving song about giving up.
Oh, this album is certainly lovely with a number of highlights, but occasionally, something seems to be lacking. For the most part, this album is more of his previous solo album, Sweater Weather, if not a touch darker. Compared to Clary’s work with the Magogs and the Smittens, most of these songs don’t seem to hold up. Perhaps It’s not fair to compare these to a person’s separate works, but it’s difficult not to with such a prolific writer. Occasionally, Clary seems almost lazy, referencing the lyrics from other indie bands, such as Pavement in “My Friend, the Writer.” Here, Clary seems to intend to use lyrics and chord progressions to find new significance (which he readily admits), but it doesn’t seem to connect. It mostly just feels awkward.
As enjoyable as this album can be, from time to time I felt that I was left waiting for something more to happen. Maybe, given the context, that response was appropriate — intending to leave the listener waiting to see what will happen next. But I’m not too sure of that.
Either way, YOW!
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