Salad Days by Mac Demarco

After gaining significant popularity by touring with Japandroids and with his second album 2 which he released in 2012, Mac Demarco returns with Salad Days. This twingy album somewhat bores the listener’s soul with his relaxing and barely interesting vocals. At the same time, if you’re trying to chill out under the sun, Salad Days is the ideal mood. Salad Days is significantly less exciting than both 2 and Rock and Roll Night Club, Demarco’s solo album and notably more, well, sleepy.

Mac Demarco is a stage name: the real genius behind the music was born in British Colombia under the mouthful of a name Vernor Winfield McBriare Smith IV. While living in Alberta, his mother soon changed his name to McBriare Samual Lanyon DeMarco.With a gap between his teeth, with a face much creepier than one would assume from his voice, with a cigarette perpetually always in his mouth, Mac Demarco is surprisingly lovable. This 24-year-old comes from a family of musicians—his grandmother was an opera singer and a music teacher; his aunt a singer in Hot City Brass. He currently has a strange obsession with Pinball, and bought his own pinball machine which features Alec Baldwin for $3,000.

The cover features Demarco himself in a trucker hat and plain blue sweatshirt, absentmindedly staring at the camera. From the looks of this photograph, Demarco appears to be your average stoner hanging out somewhere dark and therefore sketchy. The title of the album is scribbled on beneath his awkwardly blocked name—basically as if a five year old wrote on it. Demarco doesn't give two hoots about the artwork; the creepiness of the cover contradicts the tone of the album, but falls hand-in-hand with the easy-going ways of the songs. The cover photo from 2 is similar to this easy going style, as it shows Demarco carelessly throwing up a peace sign and a goofy smile. Demarco’s album artwork seems to regularly contribute to his placid style.

“Salad Days”, both the intro and namesake of the album, has the rhymescheme of AABBCC etc., with Demarco singing “na na na na” in between. Demarco’s recognizable calm voice causes a nostalgic feel as he sings about “getting old/ chip up on my shoulder”. The “na”s are the perfect combination of slightly annoying yet admittedly catchy as they seem to represent the oh-well-what-can-ya-do-that’s-life-maaaan kinda vibe. Still, Demarco comes off as passively upset about “rolling through life, to roll over and die”. Ending suddenly yet satisfyingly with a major triad, “Salad Days” overall has an oh well feel.

“Let My Baby Stay”  is a slow break from the twingy guitar that sounds the same in all of the other songs from the album. While the lyrics are about losing love, the tone of the song is more hopeful than “Salad Days”—maybe because there’s more hope in keeping love than there is in escaping death. Mac Demarco sings to some unknown force, telling him or her or it, “please don’t take my love away/let my baby stay, let my baby stay”.  Though the lyrics could be powerful, Demarco sings them disconnectedly and lacks emotion. He ends with  trying out falsetto vocals which easily conclude the song.

I expected more from Salad Days. While 2 was undoubtedly all-that-and-a-bag-of-chips, Salad Days feels like an attempted replica of 2. Mac Demarco hasn’t grown as an artist between 2 and Salad Days—he’s clearly past his Salad Days.