Jon Lindsay: Summer Wilderness Program

Jon Lindsay, Summer Wilderness ProgramJon Lindsay: Summer Wilderness Program
Jon Lindsay, founder of now-defunct The Young Sons and member of The Catch Fire, is back with his second solo EP, Summer Wilderness Program. Known for clever lyrics, Lindsay doesn’t disappoint with the songwriting on his latest record. Each track tells a story, especially “Princess Street” where Lindsay presents a young woman struggling between the life she wants to lead and her father’s expectations with lines like “Why’d you go and build a playground / if the kids ain’t s’posed to play?/ At dinner she’s not sorry / after she hears herself say / I may never be a winner / give you grandchildren one day / I’m not using the same chart / I will listen to my heart / come what may.” “Where Love Goes to Die” is compelling, it explains the get-togethers of an ex-couple. He also sings to a late friend about running into the deceased’s father at social events in the brief, dramatic “Marcoda.” Anyone who has driven an older vehicle can appreciate the lines “Jenny had a gray Camaro / some days it would run” in “Gray Camaro.” The clever lyrics and unique subject matter makes for songs worthy of multiple replays, but they seem to lack the humor of songs like “Frequent Flyer” off of his debut EP, Escape from Plaza-Midwood.
Quite the multi-instrumentalist, Lindsay takes “solo” to a new level. Lindsay plays all of the instruments on the album himself, which includes synthesizers, drums, guitar, bass, piano, horns, and various percussion instruments. The vocals are similar to those of Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard but over peppier, more up-tempo music.
“Little Fool” sounds like it could be a 1950s pop song while “Margot” brings Elvis Costello to mind. The gritty and distorted “Where Love Goes to Die” is kind of like Garbage (the band) and it stands out from the rest of the album because it sounds so different. The first track, “Oceans More,” is the one I kept coming back to. This energetic pop-rock song is heavy on the electric piano and changes tempo enough to keep you on your toes. A few of the songs aren’t exactly memorable, but they are all decent in their own right. It’s worth checking this album out for some summery tunes.
Rating: 8.3/10
MP3: Jon Lindsay “Oceans More”
Buy: iTunes

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