4/5 stars
Comprehensive art exhibitions can often be somewhat denigrating to the individual works. Beholding 30 Picasso paintings in a single viewing, it’s difficult to soak up the full effect of any one in particular. This doesn’t really apply to albums, but some artists’ compositions are definitely worth seizing in their singular purity.
Thunderegg’s C’Mon Thunder was one of last year’s standout indie-pop records, and the brainchild of San Francisco’s Will Georgantas is back with the two-song EP, Ten Sleeves/Big Cigarette.
For the title track, foggy guitar effects build a spacious yet compact environment for Georgantas to cryptically elaborate on his hyper-sentimentality. This tendency is artfully summed up by the lyric “I deceive no-one / Five layers, ten sleeves, and my heart bleeds on every one”. ‘Big Cigarette’ comes next, with a lazy polka beat and tidy country guitar licks providing a restful platform for Georgantas to paint a tale of doomed love. These lovers aren’t just doomed toward relative destruction, but also stuck in a repetitive cycle. Essentially – like a cigarette smoker – they can see things ain’t right, but just can’t let go.
Ten Sleeves/Big Cigarette helps restate Georgantas’ place on the crooked podium that houses Guided By Voices’ Robert Pollard and The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle.
Thunderegg’sTen Sleeves/Big Cigaretteis out independently through Bandcamp
