Nik Freitas
Here’s Laughing at You
Future Farmer
A professional photographer for Thrasher mag, Nik Freitas’ music probably won’t appeal as readily to the skateboarders as his pictures do. This is melancholic and intricate bedroom-pop that has more in common with a good post-Beatles Paul McCartney than with The Offspring, and Freitas does this remarkably well on what is his first album proper.
With one foot in late-‘60s acoustic psychedelia and another in the smooth, classic singer-songwriter tradition of the early-to-mid ’70s, Freitas offers some crafted pop writing filtered through the lo-fi monster machine of a Pavement with vague jazzy leanings. And while there are a few misses here and there, most of this is lovely and moving music, from the Randy Newman-ish “Check The Weather” to the Revolver-era Beatles of “faucets and drains.”
Both backwards-looking and highly contemporary, Freitas achieves something as rare as a truly unique sound, all the while walking down an overtly familiar path. Marked by a genuine sense of poignancy and of wide-eyed wonder, this is one of the most impressive debuts I’ve had the pleasure of hearing in a very long time. More, please?
Future Farmer Records: http://www.futurefarmer.com
