Ducktails - The Flower Lane
Departure from Chillwave sound results in close cousin to Real Estate’s Days
(Domino)
Where some band members use a side-project to veer off at a radical tangent, Ducktails - aka Real Estate guitarist Matthew Mondanile -- increasingly operates in ways complementary to group pursuits. His fourth album doesn’t fly far from the nest - at times it almost resembles an appendage to Real Estate’s exquisite Days - but it’s a fine and varied standalone concern too.
The lo-fi, chillwavey sketchiness of Mondanile’s earlier stuff is but a hazy memory, as this once solo bedroom mess-about becomes a considered collaborative studio endeavour, with contributions from Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never) and Madeline Follin (Cults).
‘Letter Of Intent’ sees Future Shuttle’s Jessa Farkas and Big Troubles' Ian Drennan lushly trade vocals over Mondanile’s twinkling electro groove, while ‘Academy Avenue’ is Kurt Vile-style transcendent acoustica. The woozy jangle of ‘The Ivy Covered House’ and the title track are close cousins to Real Estate’s stoned reverie - though, if The Flower Lane shares one trait with Days more than any, it’s the way it owns your stereo without apology.