Theboylucas
Out of the Wires
Output Recordings

There's something comforting beneath the calm yet almost anxiously discomforting soundscape created by Theboylucas. The music of James Lucas, a 20-year-old from Bristol, chirps, chimes, buzzes and brims with otherworldly eeriness. But Lucas' sounds often seem intangibly familiar enough to be from worlds near yet unfamiliar; behind closet doors, between dressers and desks, beneath pillows moments before the alarm goes off. These are the spaces occupied by Theboylucas' self-mixed and mastered debut Out of the Wires.

In the equally warbling and droning introduction, "there are great monsters going past," a half-whispered, slightly lilting voice (presumably Lucas') repeats a string of phrases beginning with "waiting for..." And if you're waiting for more vocals, you won't hear any past Track 1. Following in the earsteps of Tortoise's lo-fi instrumental rock, Theboylucas elicits quirky descriptions fitting only for this semi-spooky, organic blend of melodies, beats and generally balmy cacophany, through which guitars and drums are always discrete.

A tour through Lucas' aural Rorschach would begin in the water, saddled to a giant fish in "ferris wheel" and somehow end up in a microwave, just in time to witness a tryst between marshmallows scantily clad in aluminum foil. "Bogs darking" slinks to dusk on a desolate pasture, home to broken mechanical dogs; while "the sky is all air" brings in the Shetland ponies for a relatively cheerful, uncluttered trot through some major guitar chords.

It's telling that another listener may not visualize ponies or amorous marshmallows at all while navigating Wires. And this seems to be the nexus of the 12 tracks that intertwine as they ignite the more distinctive second half of the album — particularly the twittering guitar of "johnny and luther," the typewriter-clacking and organ-heavy "on a day when i wake up" and sparse "eight protestors," with its propelling bass line.

While the tunes themselves probably won't get stuck in your head and have you humming along, you may find yourself strangely addicted to the places and thoughts to which they draw you.

So, it's fitting that on the stark white cover of Theboylucas' album there's nothing but an Eva Hesse-ish sketch of a pair of headphones. You'll need a pair to transport you through all the subtleties of the subdued, bizarre warmth that sparks from Out of the Wires.

— Lavina Lee (lavina at flakmag dot com)