Ducktails' fourth record has turned the solo project of Real Estate guitarist Matthew Mondanile into a fully-fledged band effort, as The Flower Lane received support from Big Troubles and contributions from Cults, Oneohtrix Point Never, Outer Limitz and more. With Mondanile's transition from bedroom project to the studio, the record has managed to avoid that pristine production-gleam. Instead, the sound has been stripped back to raw, lo-fi pop offerings, laced with a DIY aesthetic – best heard on Academy Avenue – capturing the aura of his early works such as 2008's II. Though he has preserved the roots of the Ducktails style, The Flower Lane is a bolder, more voluptuous and refined sounding album.
The nonchalance spread throughout the ten tracks, evident in the loose guitar work and vocals, is contagious. But it is further peppered with the most hook-worthy embellishments – the saxophone solo that comes in and out of the '70s funk-inspired Under Cover, or the piano-stomp of the '60s pop tune Timothy Shy (the latter a highlight of the album) – allowing each track to hold its purpose on the record. Mondanile also revisits his instrumental past with International Date Line, but the majority of The Flower Lane strays away from the largely instrumental jam sessions of 2009's Landscapes, as he has this time nurtured each song with structure that was absent on past records, making this long-player his most accessible yet.
There's plenty to digest on The Flower Lane: it's not all woozy guitars and psychedelic nonchalance. It carries much more pleasant and musically sophisticated ideas that reel you into his world. It ebbs and flows from the stylistic wonders of Real Estate, but with many musical twists along the way.
