His Clancyness - Isolation Culture

His Clancyness originally was the solo project of Canadian Jonathan Clancy, but it has evolved into a Canadian/Italian band currently residing in Italy.  Their second LP, Isolation Culture, was released in October 2016 and it has been a regular in my rotation for a couple of months.  I've spent more than a little time wondering why it hasn't received greater recognition, although I eventually realized that if I didn't bestir myself to write about it, I was part of the problem.  I hate it when that happens.

Isolation Culture challenges usual classification boundaries in that it is noise pop, dreampop, shoegaze, art rock, and lo-fi blended together in a thick but effervescent wall of melody.  If you question whether that should even work, consider War On Drugs and you have your answer. It is bright and pop-oriented without being slick or abandoning its rock roots.  We liked the first album from His Clancyness, but this effort is a major step forward.  Putting a finger on a favorite track necessitates ignoring a lot of worthies, but if I had to choose one, it would be the bubbling sunshine of "Dreams Building Dreams".  Stream it below, but then go to the Bandcamp page and get lost in one of the lost gems of 2016.

Isolation Culture is out now via Hand Drawn Dracula, Tannen Records and Maple Death Records.







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