matt falkowski and rex thurstan seem to be in a competition for who can put out the most great music in the span of 2019. falkowski has released an album (pluto boy) and an ep (bad posture) just this year, and thurstan has released an album (forgiving my humanity), and is prepping a new one soon. the “winner” of this competition, dear reader, is us! we get to hear a lot of great music while these two duke it out on the musical battlefield. this week’s salvo is falkowski’s “crooked smile”.
if eel people warranted comparisons to the cool “slacker rock” of the mid-90s, falkowski takes on a much more earnest singer-songwriter style. “crooked smile” is like a track noel gallagher would have written in the supersonic days of oasis, if he weren’t a brit. maybe you can think about it like matt falkowski is silver jews to eel people’s pavement. yeah, i’m gonna go with that comparison; don’t @ me.
the song is a great, boozy ballad, as falkowski gives a verse that begs to be sang-along-with. it’s rough and dirty in all the right ways, and perfectly produced: it has a tactile feel that i love. a little strain in falkowski’s voice at the end / some millisecond variations in timing. go ahead and check it out, especially if you are big into ’90s-revival like i am. check out falkowski’s work on bandcamp and spotify, and stay tuned for a new album in july.
(https://mattfalkowski.bandcamp.com/)
