Brooklyn’s Michael Sincavage might be known for his angst-ridden vocals as frontman of the post-hardcore act Low Fat Getting High, but he’s laid aside the harshness in favor of an acoustic style that’s still every bit as emotive as before. Earlier this month he dropped the first track from his upcoming solo EP Empty Apartments, entitled “Big Gulp (My Heart Won’t Go On)”, a kind of raucous, jangling anti-folk production. The new record is mostly recorded on a four-track.
“Lefty (Cardboard Box)” confirms a couple of things about Sincavage solo—he’s big on the parentheticals, and his sound still refuses any manner of restraint. Though he’s swapped the metallic guitars for an acoustic six-string, his strumming is forceful, and there’s a hard crash of drums around his voice. The song has a major-key drive, but it’s anything but contented—instead, it’s a bitter tune about the kind of jerk who makes you mixtapes and then walks way. Sincavage’s voice is pure affect with its frustrated, raw, and ever so slightly off-pitch style and a tone that recalls Simon Joyner. The lyrics are honest and caustic, with the repeated “It’s all about you” wavering between affection and utter repulsion. Sincavage articulates his words so intensely that it seems they’re being thrust out at us personally, which makes the sting all the more painful when the song culminates in the acerbic line “…and how I’m just some supporting asshole.”
Empty Apartments will be out November 14, just three days after the release of Low Fat Getting High’s debut LP. The album art is by Sincavage himself (you can see more of his art here).
