John Maus - "Screen Memories"

Ok, so you guys have probably realized by now that I'm a big fan of Ariel Pink.  Even moreso, I'm usually really into that whole Low-Fi Psychedelic Pop scene.  So when people started talking to me about John Maus, I was really excited to check out his stuff.  Then I heard his 2006 debut "Songs", and boy is this ever a hard album to sit through.  Most of the album, I get what John was going for, I really do.  He was aiming for a whole lot of the same quirky, bizarre, yet really catchy Low-Fi Pop that artists like Ariel Pink constantly nailed.  But John missed the mark so hard.  The off-kilter humor on this album often came off as painfully awkward, and John almost constantly seemed seriously uncomfortable.  But most of all, this album was almost completely directionless, often having casual detours out of nowhere that made things really confusing.  But there were moments here that I feel like John was on to something, like "Just Wait Til' Next Year" and "That Night".  Maus quickly found that purpose on "Love Is Real".  This album was so much more engaging and interesting, and the production was light years better/  Whimsical tracks like "Navy Seals" and "My Whole World's Coming Apart" may not have been absolutely perfect, but were the sort of Psych Pop tracks I got crazy for.  Instantly, John Maus didn't sound nearly as much like an outsider to an outsider music genre.  In 2011, Maus released his most concrete work yet, "We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of ourselves.  Instantly, Maus seemed like a respected elder of the Low-Fi genre than someone who just dabbled in it.  Tracks like "Believer" and "Hey Moon" didn't come off as experiments, they came off as sweet alternatives to modern Pop songs.  While there were still a few really bizarre tracks that flew by me, I was still really impressed with this album.  Now, it's been quite a few years since we've heard from John.   These new singles have been bizarre, some good and some sort of underwhelming.  But overall, I'm excited to talk about this.

This album starts off with "The Combine".  Now, a lot of Maus fans are instantly going to grab on to this.  It has a whole lot of the same strong, Gothic undertones, which may do something for you or not.  But for me, it's always made the music of John Maus a little more fun.  The synths are strong as always, and his very mysterious performance is as always, completely bizarre.  Maus almost never really gives away too much in whatever track he's working on.  But there's still so much to really love about this track.  I love just how grand this all comes out, with these soaring synths and backing horns ushering in the return of one of Low-Fi's true eccentrics.  I will give this to John though, he's so good at making these Low-Fi tunes very cinematic, and that's where he stands out and always will.  But for me, honestly "Teenage Witch" is the complete antithesis of that.  The instrumentals here are much more amateur sounding, even though they do have sweet elements like those horns floating through the background.  But even more than that, this just sounds so basic for John.  He's always been so very secretive and mysterious in music.  But there's a strong difference between that and throwing a tune together really quickly and calling it complete.  "Teenage Witch" practically has nothing to it, even though it is sort of catchy.  Some may totally dig this, but I personally need more from John.  But call me nuts, but I absolutely love the very low-key, darkly tinged funk of "Touchdown".  It's a bizarre tune, but so much of this album is truly weird.  Maus's vocals in moments like this are just so haunting and other-worldly.  And while you can argue this is just as simple-minded as the last track, this is easily much more compelling with its whimsical atmosphere.  But John actually ends up building a ton of unexpected tension in this, as playful as "Touchdown" is.  It's a strange tune, but it certainly sticks with you.  John really throws a curveball at us next with "Walls Of Silence", which actually has an early 200's Garage vibe to it.  In a really weird way, this almost comes off like a Strokes track.  This one is much easier to digest as far as John Maus tunes go, and it's not nearly as much of a novelty as some of his other tracks have been.  It's still quirky though and has tons of personality, but I love how dedicated John sounds in his performance.  Also, John's Post Punk influences are shining wonderfully on this one, which is always welcome.

    This album does have a few really nice surprises from John, like "Find Out".  This is a much more punchy and upbeat, almost Post-Punk track. I've never really heard him in this much of an intense atmosphere, and honestly, I really love it.  it still has a lot of Gothic undertones, and this is still very bizarre and hard to place.  But Maus here comes off as such an interesting force.  He's always been so shadowy and is almost constantly toying with darkness, but here he embraces it completely, and the result is fantastic.  I'd honestly love to hear John in this more upbeat realm more often. But then we have moments like "Decide Decide" which quite frankly confuse me.  This is a bizarre tune that just has John moaning within this hazy, Psychedelic mess.  I think the atmosphere is still solid, and I know a lot of people are going to love this.  But I'm just not into this.  Especially after hearing a few tracks in a row of John being a little more accessible which is a nice change of pace.  "Decide Decide" sadly just doesn't do anything for me. On the other hand, "Edge Of Forever" is right off the bat so much more in line with what I usually love to hear from John Maus.  I love his low-key vocals here and how grim the instrumentals are.  But on top of that, this one shows John going for much more of an accessible and catchy tune.  There are still a ton of very quirky sound effects and bizarre themes.  But I still think tunes like this are a serious blast and make me just want to hear more and more from John.  Then we have "The People Are Missing" which shows John going for more of a straightforward Synth pop tune.  And I do really like the very intense and playful instrumental which just works so well for John.  But it's in moments like this that lyrically I feel like he's really lacking what a lot of other artists in this genre excel in.  The result is just sort of OK.  It's a track that could have been wonderful with this very adventurous instrumental. 

    I continue, however, to be completely blown away by these much more upfront and determined tracks like "Pets".  I love the driving beat here and just how retro this one comes off.  John always has had a sort of retro vibe to his music, but this track is next level.  Then we have the lyrics, which John here is showing off his incredibly in-your-face, tongue-in-cheek humor.  It's almost rivaling just how crass and immature Ariel Pink can be from time to time.  But this overall just works very well for John and gives this album just enough personality.  On the other hand, "Sensitive Recollections" is loaded with low-key funks and grooves that are right up John's alley.  But this one overall, just really doesn't work for me.  Instrumentally this one is fine, and I mean that.  But John's performance on tracks like this is just sucking the life out of me.  It's beyond boring, and I honestly feel like he really didn't put any effort at all into this.  "Sensitive Recollections" does have a nice atmosphere, I'll give it that, but that's really all.  But once again, I really have to give a shout out to John with these much more direct tunes like "Over Phantom".  These very intense Synth-Pop tunes are really fantastic and bring out his bizarre character even further.  In cases like this, it's not nearly as noticeable just how simple a lot of John's tunes are.  "Over Phantom" is adventurous and wild, and totally right up John's eccentric alley.  But outside of that, it's not really that far away from his usual formula.   Now, I do like how vast "Bombs Away" is as a finale, and it's certainly one of the more animated and technical tracks here.  But I just can't get over John's more low-key performances.  His vocals often are on the very tight border of gloomy and bored, but it's so close that he comes off bored on a few tracks here.  On "Bombs Away", he just doesn't seem like he's into this.  But outside of that, I feel like this is still a solid tune, and I do love the very wild instrumentals. 

Rating: 7.7/10

Give A Listen To: "The Combine", "Touchdown", "Find Out", "Edge of Forever"

Genre: Low-Fi / Psychedelic Pop / Indie Pop

Overall Thoughts: This is a pretty decent collection of tracks from John.  A lot of the instrumentals have that same great retro tinge to it that really brings out a lot of the great characteristics of John's performances.  He just really needs to keep these instrumentals more upbeat and his performances out of the clouds.