There Are No Easy Hot Dogs

Mac DeMarco “Chicago”

A decade ago I would not have guessed that Mac DeMarco would become such an influential guitarist and that basically an entire lane in indie rock would develop largely based on his and Kurt Vile’s respective vibes. But it makes sense to me now – his style is distinct but not tremendously difficult to emulate, and the feel of his music is seductively relaxed and low-key. In retrospect when he first hit it was like “new indie guy archetype just dropped” and a ton of guys threw up their hands like “ooh ooh, he’s like me!”

Five Easy Hot Dogs, his fifth record, is entirely instrumental and that just feels like a natural conclusion to me. It’s basically a travelogue, each song written and recorded on a road trip. It sounds like the soundtrack of a guy drifting along and passing through, no particularly heavy emotions but a lot of undefined wistfulness. Songs like “Chicago” convey a curious mindset, like it’s the music you’d play when you’re checking things out and trying to really click into the groove of some unfamiliar place.

Buy it from Bandcamp.