Review: Mikal Cronin - Mikal Cronin

By Kristen Berry

The first solo release from the Moonhearts’ Mikal Cronin may begin with some gorgeous, sublime harmonizing, but it isn’t a lightweight solo project by any means. It may be more low-key than the Moonhearts’ surf-trash-punk aesthetic and more introspective than his noisy collaborations with Ty Segall, but Cronin can hold his own by effortlessly cranking out garage pop gems. Try the catchy lead single “Apathy” on for size. His debut introduces us to a deeper, more melodic sensibility than what we may be used to hearing, but we’ve had several hints that this was in him all along and, therefore, nothing really comes as unexpected. The first few songs are mostly more hard-hitting (the psych freakout in “Is It Alright” and the fuzzy rocker “Green and Blue”), but Cronin cools it down with some perfectly mellow material, like “Get Along”, “Situation”, the sad “Slow Down”, and the nostalgically sweet “Hold on Me”. The album’s last track (“The Way Things Go”) is a matter-of-fact piano-driven pop song that reminds us not to take things too seriously as it falls to shambles and elicits a chuckle from Cronin by its end.

With Ty Segall lending a helping hand, the album features notable guest performances from artists like Thee Oh Sees’ John Dwyer, which is sure to delight almost any fan of current-day garage rock.

The album will be available September 20th on Trouble in Mind.