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 painting. 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, who’s back with the two-song EP, Big Cigarette.
For the title track, a lazy polka beat and tidy country guitar licks provide 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, they can see things ain’t right, but just can’t let go (a la smoking cigarettes). Ten Sleeves comes next. 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.” While Thunderegg’s never gained the same level of acclaim as these acts, Big Cigarette helps re-state his place on the crooked podium that houses Guided By Voices’ Robert Pollard and The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle.
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
