Every great city has its very own suburbian nightmare. For New York City, that role has always been fulfilled by the Garden State (appropriately reflected in that certain movie).
Nonetheless, suburbia always had a distinctive, often even outstanding creative force. As regards New Jersey, it certainly has regained its momentum recently by being one of the focal points of the glorious lo-fi movement that came up a couple of years ago, reaching its hitherto peak in 2009.
Though most of them have moved to Brooklyn now (of course), bands and artists like Vivian Girls, Real Estate, Ducktails or Alex Bleeker and The Freaks remain connected to the realms of their childhood, the outskirts of New York. Moreover, they're not only connected to New Jersey but also share intertwined fates. The members of Vivian Girls and Real Estate went to the same high school. Matt Mondanile, the man behind Ducktails, plays guitar for Real Estate. And because being committed to two great creative projects sometimes won't complete you, he's got Predator Vision and the Parasails in addition. Alex Bleeker is Real Estate's bassist when he doesn't perform with his Freaks. Got it?
Then you're ready for Julian Lynch:
He is a member of the Freaks' original lineup. Occasionally, he supports Matt Mondanile when playing as Ducktails. And above all, he makes wonderful music under his own name. He's also from Ridgewood, NJ, but unlike his pals he didn't move to the promised city but to Madison, Wisconsin, because of "various of obligations", as he told Tiny Mix Tapes in an interview last year. Still, that relocation to the woods didn't prevent him from producing his signature tunes: Psychedelic pop, lo-fi to the extreme, with washed out lyrics somewhere in the distance. In short: beautiful music. His debut album, Orange You Glad, was released by The Olde English Spelling Bee last year.
Last week he posted the first song of the follow-up. According to the id tag, the new album will be called Mare, but we'll see.
Download or listen to his ode to home below:
beautiful song. great.great.great.
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