The first thing anyone familiar with the previous output of one-time My Legendary Girlfriend frontman, now solo artist, McGazz will notice when settling down with his latest (free!) album is the addition of a roughed up edge to his previously pristine electropop. Where previously McGazz records shone wth clear bleeps and retro style bass lines ‘McGazzprom’ revels in beefy saw tooth bass and more lo-fidelity keyboard sounds.
The quality songwriting is still present, but this time it’s like he’s let the cruddier ends of his computers and sequencers off the leash, allowing them to chatter and fart across the surface of his finely constructed pop nuggets.
McGazz has always been most at home with arch, knowing pop and clever wordplay and ‘McGazzprom’ is no exception. Neat comments on the state of the world in ‘Caucasia’ give way to asking the listener if they want to be a Cowboy or Spaceman (the former carrying guns, the latter carrying torches…a weirdly moving destruction vs. discovery comparison). He even takes in the ‘sea of mediocrity’ that is online social networking in ‘Profiling’ (his website handily pointing to his Bebo, Myspace, del.icio.us, Live Journal and Facebook pages, it’s almost certain that if he weren’t married there’d be a link to a Match.com profile as well).
It’s on ‘Last of a Generation’ that we maybe get a glimpse of the ‘real’ McGazz as he muses on ‘growing old before we want to’ and how musicians ‘didn’t get very long’ before the next lot of young whippersnappers come biting at their heals. It’s certainly something that effects anyone over 30 still trying to say something worthwhile with music and (I think) can be used to explain who loved the Scissor Sisters are (‘Hey! They’re all happy to be in their thirties! I can still make it!!’).
39 minutes of tightly constructed pop ends with ‘Hinkley 7731’, a (digital) flute and samples number, not to be confused with the earlier ‘Hinkley 7713’, which perfectly rounds off the strongest set to date from McGazz.
