Simplicity and subtlety are combined with solid songcraft and pristine arrangements to create an achingly poignant album of considerable emotional and lyrical depth all wrapped up and disguised as a sunshine pop record. If you like to make out to the Beach Boys and have ever fallen in love or had your heart broken then we consider you among our peers and this album is about someone like you.
You know how Pet Sounds can sound beautiful and break your heart at the same time as it sticks in your head and wraps you in melody and harmony? Well, Colin Clary & the Magogs have taken that template and done their own thing, creating a pop album about small town life and the universal themes of heartbreak and forgiveness. This proves to be a fresh look at the problem of love in the modern era.
This project began with 20 or so songs from Colin and a few phones calls between him and the Magogs to develop a strategy for making the album. Then after weekends of home recording, and final mastering by Eric Masunaga, "her life of crime" found a home here at North of January.
In the last few years Colin Clary has released a dizzying array of albums, underground singles, and comp tracks. He has also recorded and performed with a number of bands including, The Madelines, The Four Color Manual, The Magic is Gone, The Smittens, and My First Days on Junk to name just a few.
Hannah Wall(Dialogue for Three, My first Days on Junk) contributes her considerable talents behind the mic playing a variety of vocal roles. The twin laments "You Drove Me Crazy and Broke My Heart (but I'm still glad you were born)" and "Simple Things (get pushed under the door)," give an extra nod to Dusty Springfield and plays like another layer of soundtrack in your head.
Steven Williams (My First Days on Junk, The Magic is Gone, Liberty Valance) and Jason Routhier(Bi-polar outing, My First Days on Junk) are The Magogs. This album allows the Magogs to apply their studio mastery and knack for mouth-wateringly simple and buoyant arrangements to Colin's song cycle and the playful vocal interplay of Clary/Wall. The result is 12 tracks that make up one of the most listenably catchy and thought-provoking records of this year.
emmaboda, 2007: swede: i love american pop. do you know the music of colin clary? kelly: he is one of my favorite dudes! swede: wait... you KNOW colin clary?? kelly: i do. swede: (dumbfounded)
