Mild High Club

Alex Brettin is the slacker genius behind Mild High Club, who just last year released Timeline, a fantastic debut album that lead them to a country-wide tour with Mac DeMarco, Mikal Cronin and Ariel Pink. They have followed up with Skiptracing, continuing to produce music that sounds like it was left out in a dank basement and developed a viscous film of funky goo that only enhances its psychedelic quality.

Brettin pulls off amazingly vibrant and complex arrangements with a nonchalant ease that must be maddening to the musicians out there that have spent years trying perfect a similar sound. Its perfection is in its sloppiness, precise where it needs to be. Not bad for a kid from the Midwest who played flute in the high school band. While similar in tone, Skiptracing is much more nuanced sonically and lyrically, and hinges on a loose storyline that, according to Brettin, follows a “private investigator attempting to trace the steps of the sound and spirit of American music.”

Skiptracing will give you something new to listen to this summer while you’re floating down the river, hanging out at the beach, or doing absolutely nothing at all. It is the musical equivalent of a giant ball of astral jelly that has been gaining strength since the early ’70s. Just take a listen to the title track you’ll hear a definite AM radio influence, with streaks of Steely Dan and even George Harrison in there — a pretty good place to derive from. This style has been emulated before, but Mild High Club delivers it with such a hazy quirkiness as to make it purely their own. The effects, mixed with Brettin’s freewheeling vocals and guitar creates such a chilled-out, jazz lounge vibe that will likely induce a natural intoxication within the listener. They feel like a band that may have played in your living room for free beers, but could soon be a main attraction at a major festival. »