Apex Manor:The Year of Magical Drinking Review

Artist: Apex Manor
Album: The Year of Magical Drinking
Label: Merge

The story behind the inception of Apex Manor is as charming as the catchy pop tunes that make up their debut album, The Year of Magical Drinking. Ross Fluornoy, the band’s founder, while experiencing a particularly bad case of writer’s block, entered a song writing contest through NPR which set his wheels turning. He penned the album’s second track, “Under the Gun”, for the contest, and then, with the help of an old friend and an ex-band mate from the Broken West, wrote enough for an album and then some. The album was released on Merge Records in late January.

With straightforward, easy vocal melodies, the album is at once enjoyable and accessible. Upon closer inspection, an appreciation for instrumental tonal quality from the band becomes apparent. The gritty, grainy guitar tone has been reigned in until the sound is not an overbearing live-show-at-the-Bowery buzz, but a controlled aide that lends character and depth.

Lyrically, the band is walking the typical indie line, with songs about such subjects as drinking oneself into a stupor, wishing to be younger, and falling in love with girls who will probably end up being the subject of a more bitter album-to-come. The songwriting is proficient and fun, however trite the subject matter might be, and, really, who among us can’t relate?

In interviews, Fluornoy and collaborator Adam Vine point to Tom Petty’s Damn the Torpedoes and a whole lot of Van Morrison as influences, and if you listen closely, they are both a large presence. Fluornoy’s vocals are certainly reminiscent of both, with effortless quality but emotional grace, but he also evokes the alt-country greats who sometimes sang with more passion than aptitude. Top all that with the juxtaposition of some sing-able hooks and summery harmony and you’ve got Apex Manor.

Apex Manor may not be creating a new genre, but they have certainly come close to perfecting a rewarding blend of some venerable rock and roll techniques, and are here just in time for the warm days they bring to mind.

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Written by Gina McTigue

Apex Manor: The Year of Magical Drinking on iTunes

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