Ducktails Headbanging In The Mirror Review

After relentlessly touring the world as lead guitarist for Real Estate, you wouldn’t blame Matt Mondanile for longing after the comforts of his hometown New Jersey, and the first single ‘Headbanging In The Mirror’ from his fifth album as solo guise Ducktails harks back to the uncomplicated suburban summers of old when he dreamt of living as a world-touring musician.

Until his previous album ‘The Flower Lane’, Ducktails was primarily used as a vehicle to release the lo-fi overspill of songs that wouldn’t have necessarily fitted the Real Estate mould. With his latest outing from new album ‘St. Catherine’ however, Mondanile manages to evoke the dreamy nostalgia of hopeful summers with lush and atmospheric riffs that compliment the longing melody and his earnest vocals that surf in the foreground, yearning for the simpler sun-soaked days.

With producer Rob Schnapf (Elliott Smith) at the helm, Mondanile channels the bittersweet guitar sound that he established with Real Estate with polished shoegazey reverb that culminates in a delightful beachy daydream of a track that you most certainly won’t be headbanging to.

‘St. Catherine’ is out on Domino Records on 24th July 2015.

By Thomas Curtis-Horsfall
@ThomasCurtisH