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**Mac DeMarco - Salad Days**
★★★★☆

There's something beautifully deceptive about Mac DeMarco's drowsy-eyed persona. Behind the gap-toothed grin and chain-smoking slacker aesthetic lies one of indie rock's most intuitive songwriters, a fact that became undeniably clear with 2014's "Salad Days." Following the critical acclaim of 2012's "2" and the oddball charm of "Rock and Roll Night Club," DeMarco had established himself as the court jester of the Montreal indie scene. But "Salad Days" marked a subtle maturation – not in terms of growing up, mind you, but in the refinement of his distinctly warped musical vision.

Recorded in his Rockaway Beach apartment on a Tascam 8-track, the album emerged during a period of transition for the Edmonton-born troubadour. Having relocated from Montreal to Queens, DeMarco found himself grappling with the peculiar melancholy that accompanies your mid-twenties – that liminal space between youthful abandon and adult responsibility. The result is an album that captures the bittersweet essence of growing older while desperately clinging to the carefree days of youth.

Musically, "Salad Days" occupies that sweet spot between bedroom pop and yacht rock that DeMarco has made his own. His signature sound – built around chorus-drenched Fender Jazzmaster guitars, vintage synthesizers, and drum machines that sound like they've been submerged in maple syrup – creates an atmosphere that's simultaneously nostalgic and timeless. It's lo-fi without being deliberately obtuse, polished enough to reveal DeMarco's melodic gifts while maintaining the intimate, slightly stoned quality that makes his music so endearing.

The album opens with the title track, a wistful meditation on the passage of time that immediately establishes the record's central theme. "As I'm getting older, chip upon my shoulder," DeMarco croons in his characteristically lazy drawl, setting the tone for what follows. It's a perfect encapsulation of quarter-life anxiety wrapped in a deceptively breezy melody that'll have you humming along before you realize you're contemplating your own mortality.

"Blue Boy" stands as perhaps the album's most affecting moment, a gorgeous piece of melancholic pop that showcases DeMarco's ability to craft genuinely moving songs beneath his goofball exterior. The track's shimmering guitar work and vulnerable lyrics reveal an artist capable of real emotional depth, while "Brother" serves up one of his most straightforward rockers, complete with a guitar solo that would make Mark Knopfler proud.

The album's centrepiece might well be "Let Her Go," a track that perfectly balances DeMarco's penchant for dreamy atmospherics with an unexpectedly poignant lyrical core. Here, his usual romantic confusion takes on a more mature dimension, suggesting someone who's learned to accept heartbreak as part of life's natural rhythm. Meanwhile, "Treat Her Better" offers relationship advice delivered with the casual wisdom of someone who's made his share of mistakes.

DeMarco's genius lies in his ability to make the profound seem effortless. Songs like "Chamber of Reflection" – a hypnotic, synth-heavy meditation that closes the album – demonstrate his knack for creating music that works equally well as background ambience or focused listening. It's the sound of someone working through their thoughts in real-time, inviting listeners into their headspace without ever feeling invasive or overly confessional.

A decade on, "Salad Days" has proven to be DeMarco's most enduring statement. While subsequent releases have seen him experiment with different sounds and approaches, this album remains the perfect distillation of his artistic vision. It spawned countless imitators and helped define the sound of mid-2010s indie rock, influencing everyone from Boy Pablo to Clairo.

More importantly, "Salad Days" established DeMarco as more than just a novelty act. Beneath the cigarette-butt aesthetic and onstage antics lies a songwriter with a genuine gift for capturing the mundane poetry of everyday life. The album's continued resonance with listeners suggests that DeMarco tapped into something universal – that particular brand of existential uncertainty that defines your twenties, delivered with enough humour and warmth to make it feel like a shared experience rather than a solitary struggle.

In an era of increasingly polished an