Ducktails: The Flower Lane - (Review)

 

 

 

·         Ducktails: The Flower Lane-

            Ducktails is a band forged out of figure head/frontman Matthew Mondanile's fairly prolific and expansive take on spaced out voyages, pop romanticism, tropical swaying, and even prog rock tendencies.  The latter is especially important when considering his latest output under the Ducktails name, The Flower Lane. At first it bounces like a casual Cure-esque take on 90's fuzzed out pop mannerisms (not to be confused with the late 00's somewhat dreary overly muddled take on garage/dreamy melodies that either rocked and partied too hard or became a sleeping tablet) Until the track “Under Cover” which delivers a progression so vibrant, and Robert Fripp like, that it jars you out of the gauze and complacent heaven the first two tracks bring (the title track is especially heavenly).

            Luckily, the pleasant experimentation doesn't stop there, like the spy/noir opening guitars and piano stabs on “Timothy Shy” that feels like a one up on Crystal Skulls sound, or “Letter Of Intent” that makes you feel as if you've just entered sultry disco club with a siren signing through morphine and shards of light.  Hardly a track is amiss here, still songs like; “Assistant Director” and “International Date Line” do tend to feel a little listless and lack the in the execution and completion when stacked up with the rest of the album. Small digs aside. wonderful album for anyone even remotely interested in melody and euphoria.

Rating: 4/5

By Cody Blevins