John Vanderslice: Romanian Names (2009)

New Wax


I can only hope to be as cool as John Vanderslice when I'm 42. The indie-rock elder-statesman continues to pump out his own brand of polished-yet-innovative pop songs, and his new album Romanian Names sounds decidedly... well, John Vanderslice. That's not to say there's not a subtle shift in tone. Where his two previous albums, 2005's Pixel Revolt and 2007's Emerald City, were wading knee-deep in post-9/11 paranoia, Romanian Names trades in the politics for a more personal feel. Vanderslice has set aside the apocalyptic and abstract imagery of songs like "Kookuburra" and "White Dove" for more narrative songs like album-closer "Hard Times": "To find an answer I searched every sentence/ And ended deeper still/ In hard times." While the production on Romanian Names is as meticulous as anything Vanderslice has released, it somehow also feels effortless. A mid-tempo pop song built on rich layers of electronica, "Too Much Time" is an example of Vanderslice at his catchiest. While Romanian Names may not be as thematically intriguing as some of his past material, it's as listenable as anything he's released. -- Capt. Obvious

Listen:
MP3: John Vanderslice - Oblivion
MP3: John Vanderslice - D.I.A.L.O.

Tags: John Vanderslice, Romanian Names