Surrey-based solo artist Macatier (real name Dan Brown) released his 3rd studio EP, This Boat Is Definitely Sinking, in early December. Brown has often cited Blink-182 as one of his influences, and this shines through in the EP; he manages to convey a lot of that classic pop punk emotion even though the tracks are mostly acoustic.
The opening track, ‘Thousand Yard Stare’, sets the tone for the EP, with harsh guitars and angry lyrics – “I can’t find a way to say / I wanna reside in my thoughts all day”. ‘Panic Attack!’ and ‘Swimming to Canada’ are continuations of the theme – there is a fairly high level of similarity between the first three tracks, although they do have their individual merits.
There are some great moments, particularly the crescendo over the lyrics “one year has passed / two years have passed / three years have passed” in ‘Panic Attack!’. Some of the most Blink-like parts (chants of “getting sick and tired” in ‘Swimming to Canada’) led me to question what these tracks would sound like with electric guitars, but the juxtaposition of Macatier’s rough vocals with acoustic guitar is nonetheless really interesting.
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‘Sleep Song’, as the title suggests, ends the EP on a somewhat calmer note, although Macatier still (masterfully) brings across torment and depth in the lyrics; the combination of the more mellow sound with lyrics like “my mind is out of shape / distorting my best friend’s faith” made this the stand-out track for me. Overall, This Boat builds on a long tradition of pop punk but adds a lot of individuality, meaning Macatier is definitely one to watch next year!
You can listen to his other songs on his Soundcloud (look out for some fabulous Ramones and Pixies covers).
Words by Priya Bryant