Jon Lindsay
(Chocolate Lab)
Plaza-Midwood is a residential area located in proximity to the business district of Charlotte, NC; as such, with its broad mix of working class and bohemian, across multiple ethnicities and shifting demographics, it has experienced wild swings of decline and gentrification over the years. As one might imagine - and as I experienced during my own decade-long Charlotte tenure - it's also long been a fertile petri dish for artistic types. Multiinstrumentalist Jon Lindsay is the latest Queen City musician to represent that legacy, and he represents in fine fashion. A veteran of numerous power pop outfits (among them the Young Sons and the Catch Fire) as well as a notable collaborator with the likes of Benji Hughes and Nicole Atkins, Lindsay's got all the classic influences, from Beatles, Beach Boys and Zombies to Posies, Guided By Voices and Elliott Smith, and he's also got the chops to mine those influences for pop gold.
Chief among the nuggets are opening track "These Are the End Times," which slowly grows from a wistful acoustic strum/harmonica motif into a subtly Spectorian neo-orchestral wall of sound, complete with gospellish harmonies and - no lie - sleigh bells; and "The Launch Codes," which comes near the end, and, with its gentle R&B lope, horn charts and falsetto vocals, suggests a Squeeze-Beach Boys musical fantasy summit come true. In between are plenty of other blissed-out moments no student of pop will be able to resist, from the exultant romp that is "My Blue Angels" to the chugging, synth-strafed "Bring the Old You Back." Throughout, Lindsay demonstrates both an eye for sonic nuance (a lot of little flourishes prompt a "did I just hear him do that?" flash of recognition on the listener's part) and lyric detail (very few of life's vicissitudes seem to escape that eye, in fact, with Lindsay consistently finding fodder wherever he looks).
Lindsay may intend his solo debut's title to be either ironic or literal; after all, since the dawn of time, it's been a prime directive of rock ‘n' rollers to get out and get away. But purely based on the aural evidence offered by these 15 tunes, there's something in the titular Plaza-Midwood water he should bottle up and carry with him regardless of where his muse ultimately takes him. His future looks bright.
DOWNLOAD: "Bring the Old You Back," "These Are the End Times," "Launch Codes" FRED MILLS
