The Morgues
Now Look at Me Now
(Ashley’s Dollar Store)
Now Look at Me Now, the new EP by New York-based band The Morgues, features only three songs, each of which I like a lot, but unfortunately doesn’t feel like a fully-realized project quite yet.
The album begins with “Now Look at Me Now,†a great little folk song that very effectively portrays a kind of loneliness. The singer’s echoed voice makes him sound like he’s trapped in a cell of his own misery. His only accompaniment is an understated acoustic guitar, save for the odd telephone ring or canned laughter that interrupts the song’s mellow flow.
“Handful of Roses†expands on the strummy, lazy Sunday morning feel of the first track, with a full band this time. Stylistically, it feels like Britpop, but with that unmistakable dirty-Brooklyn croon.
The third track is quite different from the first two. “Arms for Legs†is very contemporary in its vintage affectations. The dead-pan boy/girl vocals and heavily reverbed surf-fuzz guitars make the song sound a lot like Dum Dum Girls, Best Coast, and Beach Fossils. These are all good songs that I feel would sound better in the context of a full album. Unfortunately here, they just feel a bit thrown together.
