An album so smooth that, if I was forced to choose when bedtime rolled around, I’d pick it over a soft blanky every time.
This album is somehow very spacey and very tight all at once. While listening to a few of the tracks I found myself feeling like somebody was shooting lasers directly into my ears, but in the most enjoyable way possible. The space created by the juxtaposition of their firm and enjoyably simple bass lines and the soft and soothing synth layered over it is very pleasant. Interestingly, the vocals often don’t take the lead the mix so it’s very easy to not pay any attention to the lyrics, but I sincerely enjoy them when I do.
Top 3:
#3: Is It Over Yet?
https://open.spotify.com/track/6od4AWSetv4GKlXxzexyja
This is a great song to listen to on a bus or train Firstly, it makes me feel like I’m moving. It’s a strange sensation to try to explain, but if I’m sitting absolutely still it makes me feel like I’m gliding on a raft or something. It’s always interesting to hear it when I’m actually moving because the effect just stacks on and it’s kind of fun. Additionally, it makes me feel sort of appreciative of life and the people in it, and that’s a feeling anybody could use when they’re sitting next to strangers in a moving vehicle.
#2: Luck
Simply pleasant. It’s pretty simple but I like the way it sounds and I like the message they’re trying to get across. Coming into the song I kind of feel like I’m bouncing along on a pogo-stick, but it’s really easy and fun – nothing like what it’s actually like to ride a pogo-stick, that shit’s hard. The chorus is really sweet, I actually sometimes rewind just to hear it on repeat, and it reprises the end of Park Moments. I think it’s super cool because it already sounds familiar before you ever hear it, given that you’re listening to the album in order.
#1: Park Moments
This song is one of the anthems of my summer. It brings back memories of adventuring through a city that I had never been to before with some of my best friends by my side. Rob, a friend of a friend we were staying with, drove us around in his bright red Pontiac and showed us all of the coolest spots in Seattle, it was really a great couple of days. I know my opinion of this one is pretty strongly biased, but I’m really curious to hear what other people’s first impressions of it are. I’m 95% sure that this article will have a space for comments under it after I post it? Let me know what you think!
Side Story! I heard this album for the first time this past summer when I was stopping through Seattle on a little road trip with some of my high school buddies. One of the guys we were staying with, Rob, is actually really good friends with the members of Mango Lane. He’s actually the person speaking in the little voice clip in the middle of the song — apparently they recorded him on a phone call and stuck it in there entirely without his knowledge. Anyways, his car radio can only play cassette tapes so the guys in the band made one and sent it to him. It was basically the only thing he played for the few days we were there, I thought it was pretty cute.
