Over simple drum beats and unfussy keyboards, DeMarco strums his heart out, singing primarily about his dad but soon realizing he can’t sing about his father without singing about himself in tandem.

That’s not to say that This Old Dog is a country album, but it is astoundingly undecorated. This Old Dog by Mac DeMarco This Old Dog by Mac DeMarco DeMarco is a proud Garcia acolyte, and his songs sometimes loam about, at times jump up, are often filled with joy, and now, with the more acoustic and formal new set This Old Dog toss a bit of the Dead’s country influences in for good measure. While it was often easy to write him off as penning lo-fi, mid-tempo, bong-rip jam sessions, such casual tossed-off observations belie DeMarco’s clear influences, the largest of which is the Grateful Dead. Yet for all his nuttiness, DeMarco’s most radical poses are the ones that stem from his music. DeMarco cuts some people the wrong way, and there will forever be a line of clown princes dancing about in the great halls of rock ‘n’ roll - DeMarco may just so happen to be wearing the jester hat this time around. From dressing up full-hick for his Coachella interview (which was doubly funny given he’s an Edmonton native) to his live concerts known for having auto-dealership tube men and various states of undress, DeMarco’s friendly, party-loving image is one that seems to imply that he doesn’t take his gig seriously, that his outside persona should be just as disposable as the music he creates.Īnd you know what? That’s fine. There are some that can’t handle Mac DeMarco’s antics. If I feel old now, I don’t know how the hell I’m going to feel when I’m really old … that will be strange.”

Mac demarco this old dog rip