A person’s twenties are a rough time period.  There’s confusion in changing platitudes, frustrations (physical, emotional, sexual, spiritual, etc.), lingering feelings of inadequacy, hatred at the norm, and maybe most of all the nagging feeling that something isn’t right.  Nowhere you go, nothing you do, nobody you meet seems right, and you can’t quite place whether its because of the situation or because you don’t know how to respond yourself.

Our twenties are our mutual identity crisis, that time where we try to find ourselves or, in select cases, put more emphasis on the endless “What if…?” scenarios that spawn from birth and manifest with every decision we don’t make.  When you put that kind of spin on it, your golden age of waning adolescence seems pretty damn depressing, doesn’t it?  Everything can be boiled down to an existential query as we try to make our way in this world or discover our purposes, but I’ve found that the best way to approach all of it is to simply wait.  You pick a sunny day where it’s not too hot and the breeze is just right, sit on the porch or the steps of the library, have yourself a subtle adult beverage and sigh because at the end of the day that’s the best way to clear your head and deal with one of the three two undisputed infinities: the universe, human stupidity and slacking.

Yes, slacking.  It’s hard to put into words how relaxing it is to turn off your mind from all its philosophy and grandeur and just coast.  Our best ideas come from our most relaxed moments: our best work might be a result of extensive effort, but the ideas flow like water in a river.  You may wonder why so many musicians take to smoking weed.  I assume, primarily, its because they like the high.   On the other end, I think it’s because it lets them cool out and relax.  Then again, some people use cigarettes.  They wax poetic over how much they love to smoke cigarettes.  During this period of smoking cigarettes, they create a song that could easily have been the perfect 80s movie prom night victory song, and you would never really know.

Tonight I’m writing about Mac DeMarco, who in two albums has become one of my favorite contemporary musicians, and more over, this is a review for his second third offering, an LP that dropped earlier this year called Salad Days.  Continuing with his halfway lazy, soothingly laid back style of guitar strumming and singing from his second album 2, this album starts off strong with the title track and the overarching theme of the album: be cool and enjoy yourself.

As I’m getting older, chip up on my shoulder/Rolling through life to roll over and die

In two lines Mac’s philosophy is on full display, and much like his role model Jonathan Richman he seems to appreciate taking life easy and just enjoying it, not taking it too seriously.  This isn’t a conflict with DeMarco actually taking the time to say something serious either.  On “Brother” he calmly advises the listener to follow their dreams and never settle for the norm; I’ll return to this later as its important.  Similarly (in terms of serious advice or serious topics), “Go Easy” offers a smooth take on him and his girlfriend moving to a new town, her reluctance to doing so and his promise to comfort her if times get rough.

The thing about Mac DeMarco is that he sounds like a slacker; even his name sounds like that of a listless slacker or a shiftless vagabond.  His music is laid back, his guitar is almost juvenile in appearance, he’s the Canadian answer to Tyler, the Creator and that, my friends, truly puts him in a league all his own.  I don’t know what sport that league calls its own but I want to play myself.  Perhaps the reason I’m so drawn to Mac is because I go through the changing platitudes, frustrations, lingering feelings of inadequacy, hatred at the norm and the nagging feelings that something isn’t right.  With that, I gravitate towards those who seem to have a more easy going time with things.  They aren’t rebels, not really, but they have their way of doing things and happily listen to your advice, but ultimately do what they think is best.

So don’t go telling me how this boy should be leading his own life, sometimes rough but generally speaking I’m fine

Mac isn’t saying that he has this whole “life” thing down completely, but he’s just living his own life, and with three albums, critical acclaim and likely a pack of Viceroys in his back pocket, I’m sure he’s pretty good about it.  DeMarco offers advice but he doesn’t come across as another older voice saying something you’ve heard before, even if you actually HAVE heard it before.  In these tumultuous twenties, anyone familiar sounds like white noise.  Anyone older sounds like white noise.  A lot of people say millennials don’t listen to or care about the words of those simply trying to teach them something, but understand: its not just millennials.  It’s our age, our culture, our tiredness at hearing the traditional “You can do anything!” motivational speech only to be met with a giant slap in the face called life (or America, your call) that reminds us that reality isn’t nearly as sweet as those words.  We were dreamers because of what we taught and we’re told to stop doing so now, so anything “new” sounds both mean and condescending.  Is that an unfair accusation?  Yes.

But since when were we raised to be fair?

Much like Tyler, the Creator, I think, Mac DeMarco represents this dream come true persona.  His slacker aura (I’ve been criticized lauded for a similar glow) reminds us that dreamers exist.  His easy going lyrics, comical subject matter (the man makes his family cooking up drugs sound like fun) and cool voice are more inspiring than any generic motivational speech we usually get.  Thus his music reflects this mentality.  Salad Days itself is a reference to the Shakespearean play Antony and Cleopatra.  One more quote, I promise you, then I’m done.  I like quotes.

…my salad days/When I was green in judgment, cold in blood

At the end of the day, we’re a youthful generation right now, and we look at this youth and freedom with a wide-eyed innocence and unbreakable belief that our dreams will pave our paths towards success.  So we work towards them.  The album says early on that DeMarco’s salad days are done, so he just accepts it and keeps it moving.  But that doesn’t change how he keeps it moving.  The same idealistic slacker from 2012 continues to be that idealistic slacker in 2014, even if he is more world weary as “Passing Out Pieces” makes it clear.  But that’s what’s great about his music.  There’s no straight forward way to simply say “It’s good music” because that’s obvious.  What isn’t so obvious is how easy it is to relate to it.  Maybe our salad days are done, but that means nothing when we stay cool and enjoy ourselves.  And really: that advice alone makes a terrific album even better.

Here, listen to a few tracks:

• “Blue Boy”

• “Let My Baby Stay”

• “Chamber of Reflection” (apparently Tyler, the Creator’s favorite track from the album)