Description
Tracklist:
1: Going Outside
2: The Right Influencer
3: Birdsworld
4: I Watch TV
5: TS McPhee
6: Incel Country
7: Imagine Caring
8: The Man With the X-Ray Brain
9: Shellfish Constable
10: (Signed Your Pal) Larry Cravat
11: No Culture
12: Apologists, Controversialists, etc
13: Ode to J
14: Slamming the Tent Door
15: You’re Gonna Need Somebody on Your Bond
16: Exit
17: A Shot of the Street
18: Accidental Flag
19: Voyager
20: Weeble
21: Get Right Back
Double-LP in gatefold jacket featuring Dan’s artwork
From the label’s promo blurb on Bandcamp:
“Ask Dan Melchior about the underlying narratives that play out in his records and hell say he doesnt pay much attention to them. They reveal themselves in ways that are personal to the listener. He simply goes where they lead him. A lot has come to pass in Melchiors life over the last few years. He made a cross-country move from his longtime home in Carrboro, NC to greener pastures of Austin, Texas. Hes embarked on a brand new relationship, and oh there was a global pandemic that shut down the whole world for a couple of years. Its difficult not to try connecting the dots when listening to his latest album, Welcome To Redacted City, Melchiors third release with the Atlanta-based label Midnight Cruiser Records. Songs such as ‘Going Outside,’ ‘The Right Influencer,’ and ‘Incel Country,’ and ‘Voyager.’ find the U.K. born, U.S. transplant singing and playing guitar through 21 honest-to-goodness songs backed by a full band. The lineup includes Chris Girard bass, Anthony Allman keyboard, and drummer Clark Blomquist yielding a cohesive, live band feel thats aligned with Melchiors earlier recordings with his Broke Revue band, and much of his older releases for In The Red Records. Garage punk, loads of distortion, and exquisite melodies careen with a poetic and renewed vigor here, each element underscoring an album that is decidedly of the times. Each song navigates a maze of modern dilemmas, viewed through the T.V. and computer screens as the world goes to hell. But Melchior channels his anxieties into 21 uplifting numbers that sit alongside personal disasters and triumphsthe kinds of things that one obsesses over while living in isolation. The driving bass in ‘Voyager’ and the ominous voice in ‘Get Right Back’ spouting, ‘They say you can never go back home again,’ expands upon any and all expectation, as Melchiors words carry just as much weight as the low rumble of the music. Jumping from captivating melodies into bluesy punk-inflected chargers, the dots start to connect themselves in Redacted City, giving rise to an album steeped in menace and delight, paranoia and confidence.” – Chad Radford
