Mansions - New Best Friends

Man, do I like his record a whole lot. You may remember the little blurb on JS-NYC when Mansions made their demo available for free through the good folk of punknews (dot) org. I thought it showed a lot of promise, but never thought I'd like New Best Friends as much as I do. That's not to say it's especially original. Mansions crib a lot from The Jealous Sound and Death Cab For Cutie. Curacoa Blue has a particularly Gibbard-ian sheen to it. It's not unpleasant by a long shot, but worth noting nonetheless.

It appears that Mansions is still pretty much Christopher Browder. I'm not sure how much of this features any collaboration with his live band, as the songs are fairly spartan for the most part. Browder is young, but has a real gift with a hook and a lyric. Townes Van Zandt he is not, but he sure does write a pretty song. There is a darkness, or perhaps more aptly a melancholia, that is bleakly appealing. You haven't sang along to a chorus as bleak as the one in Insulated since the first Red House Painters EP. Songs like Take It Back feature a louder take on ennui that approaches the better Blair Shehan material. New Best Friends is good, maybe even great. I've listened to this over and over for about four hours cleaning house and not been prompted to skip a track yet. That bodes well for me, perhaps less so for my neighbors. Pick up a copy of New Best Friends here from Doghouse. 

Mansions is on tour now. Check them out here to see where.

R