Rating:
A stellar album.
Mac DeMarco’s music has always felt more sincere and, well, more normal than his public persona as a goofy party boy that loves nothing more than a drink and a packet of Viceroy brand cigarettes would suggest. ‘This Old Dog’ continues on the path started by previous work ‘2’ and ‘Salad Days’, a mix of dreamy love songs and self-reflective lyrics that see Mac trying to piece together where he is in life and just how the hell he got there.
Title track ‘This Old Dog’ is painfully honest, opening with the lyrics “Sometimes my love may be put on hold / Sometimes my heart may seem awful cold”. Not exactly what you’d expect from the guy who once got on stage and stuck a drumstick somewhere you wouldn’t normally consider sticking it. Later track ‘Dreams From Yesterday’ continues this theme of self-evaluation, with Mac reflecting “No amount of tears / Can roll back the years / Bring back all your dreams / From yesterday”. Heavy stuff from someone often considered the crown-prince of slackers.
