Max Gowan - "Far Corners"

Max Gowan is a 20 year old Washington DC based Singer/Songwriter whose actually on his 3rd album already, "Far Corners".  This album starts out with “Bad Breeze”, a personal favorite of mine.  It’s certainly a very breezy intro, Max certainly picked the right title.  I love his very airy vocals that make this already sweet atmosphere even sweeter.  Instrumentally, it’s very stripped down.  But in a case like Max’s here, that’s a great thing, it makes your focus 100% on him.  But while “Bad Breeze” is a very sweet listen, it also has a serious sense of longing in Max’s vocals.  At the same time, the chorus picks things up just enough for this one not to be too dreamy and hazy.  Overall, this track in every aspect is pretty fantastic.  It ushers in the sound of this album as well as Max’s style of Indie Rock.  Up next, “Lawnmower” proves to us rather quickly that Max isn’t a one trick pony.  The instrumentals, all performed by him, are wonderful.  While this track still has a very stripped back sound, they’re lively enough to make everything come together nicely.  However, Max remains the star.  His delivery here is wonderful, with almost an old school Emo sound to it, anywhere from Alex G (someone who had a major influence on Max), to the shyness of Jesse Lacey or Elliot Smith.  I also lose the sort of bounciness to the riff of this one despite the somber tone.  The very dreamy vibe here continues with “All Of The Time”.  It’s a very sunny feel perfect for sitting out on your porch and enjoying the breeze.  Max’s very sweet vocals here are at their peak, and with the much more stripped back sound of everything, comes some of Max’s more coherent vocals as well.  While “All Of The Time” is short, it feels complete.  Then we have “Washed Up”.  Right off the bat I love the almost tropical sort of vibe that comes from the drums alone on this one, Max certainly knows how to create an atmosphere.  But as very sweet as this is, it remains really warm due to Max’s very soothing vocals.  As far as a melodic track goes, this is the catchiest track here by far.  Any fans of early Bon Ever will totally catch on to this VERY quickly.  Not to mention, the serious sense of longing we heard from Max earlier is back with a vengeance, but it’s pulled off wonderfully.  Plus, this already solid atmosphere is enhanced greatly by this wonderful instrumental passage.  Hell yes.

If I had to choose one track here that I wasn’t 100% into, it would have to be “Attic Song”.  Quite frankly it’s just a litttttttle too breezy for my liking.  But even within this atmosphere that I wasn’t crazy about, there’s still plenty that I did pick up on that I was seriously into.  For example, I love the distant guitars here, that are made even more fantastic when you incorporate in some of Max’s more haunting coals here.  As the track moves on, some less breezy instrumentals pop in and I do appreciate “Attic Song” some more, and I continue to seriously love that slide guitar.  This may not be my favorite track here, but for a dude who did this all himself, it’s seriously impressive still.   “Couch” however takes us back in the sort of bouncier direction that we got with earlier tracks here.  I love Max’s more somber sounding vocals here, the Alex G influence continues to be seriously HUGE.  Also, I’m seriously into the more complex guitars here as well, showing that Max is a whole lot more than just some indie Songwriter.  “Couch” seriously has a LOT going on, with a lot of instrumentals intertwining and rising into one of the album’s bigger crescendo’s by the time it’s over.  Then we have “Breather”, which as far as instrumentals go, this is by far the most varied track here.  At first, I felt like it was almost a little too much, to the point where it got a little too hard for me to focus on one element or another (Ironically, that’s exactly what I had to say about some of the instrumentals on Alex G’s latest album).  However, it’s grown on me massively since.  It acts sort of like an interlude, and honestly breaks things up really nicely.  To the point where I’d almost say that Max’s very ethereal vocals were’t even necessary since it’s on the short side.  “Gardens” is our finale here, and it’s  a step right back in the direction to a lot of the earlier tracks here.  However, one thing that does stand out that I absolutely love is the fact that Max is using his lower vocals here, something I would love to hear more of in the future.  As a finale, this is really all I could have asked for from Max.  Interestingly enough, this is one of the least melodic and sweet tracks here, yet it has a mysterious vibe to it that has me seriously wanting to hear more from Max.  “Gardens” is a fascinating ending.

Rating: 7.7/10

Give A Listen To:  "Bad Breeze", "Lawnmower", "Washed Up", "Breather"

Overall Thoughts:  For a short little Indie album, there's plenty to love about "Far Corners".  Between Max's very sweet and dreary performances to the the the very airy atmosphere.   For a guy whose doing virtually all of this himself, Max has a ton to offer.  Don't believe me?  Listen to it yourself, you won't regret it!  Check out his bandcamp at maxgowan.bandcamp.com!