There’s a certain non regional malaise to Matt Bachmann’s Big Eater record, In Between. Bachmann was raised in Chicago, ditched Washington State for years of Seattle squalor, and packed up his Ford Explorer for Crown Heights, Brooklyn in order to obtain that indistinct bummer Americana.
As a Seattle based music teacher Bachmann countered the work week with weeknights in in divey karaoke bars. Somehow that kitschy environment creeps into the fold of “Lazy Days”. One can imagine Bachmann in front of a projection screen in a low lit tiki lounge, delivering a cagey rendition of “Cinnamon Girl”. “Lazy Days” pines for the lackadaisical, but the production remains tightly pressed and orderly. There is a syllabus to “Lazy Days”, but the teacher has his head out the window as much as the students.
Pop splendor has been in Bachmann’s DNA as a former member of iji and Mega Borg. In Between is his solo debut, putting his tenor vocals at the forefront. “Lazy Days” might introduce In Between as a freewheeling indie record, but it is one of many faces for Big Eater.
Big Eater’s In Between is out October 30 on Help Yourself.
