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Mr. D
Wings & Wheels
One Inch Punch Records, Ltd.
Even though its members hail from Glasgow, Mr. D. has managed to make the most California sounding album of the year. From its breezy harmonies to its effortless melodies, Wings &Wheels is an elegant batch of sun-soaked Byrdsy pop. Much like Ireland's The Thrills, the men of Mr. D. explore the specific kind of longing and imagined self-actualization that can only come from travel. But while The Thrills' So Much For The City found the band traveling wide-eyed up and down the coast of California and writing songs as they went ("Big Sur," "Santa Cruz"), Mr. D. explore both the romanticism of finding a new place to live as well as one's personal fidelity to their own emotional geography. While the former comes in sweeping amorous bursts, the latter shrugs off the temptation of thinking that life is always better if you're elsewhere. For example, "Late September" is as much about traveling ("Jump on a boat that's headin' down river") as "Island Girl" is about not traveling ("I don't want to go to San Francisco"). Clarifying the whole affair is the rootsy pop of "Fools Fall In Love" which reminds us: "If you know where you're going/You gotta know where you came from." In other words, there's emotional travel and physical travel and Wings & Wheels is interested in them both. Singer Paul McLinden's delivery can summon both Elliot Smith's doleful indie folk ("Whenever You Get The Feeling") and Gram Parsons' cosmic Americana ("Somebody, Somewhere) but what makes him such a compelling frontman is that he comes armed with a gentle and poetic phrasing that makes his narratives truly unforgettable. Elsewhere, "Pick It Up" could have fit in anywhere on So Much For The City, "New Day" suggests The Stands and "I'll Keep Looking Around" features the most gorgeous harmonies you'll hear all year. A stunning debut.
—Alex Green
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