I’m not going to lie, I didn’t have the highest expectations for Max Gowan'”Big People.” He’s an 18-year-old singer-songwriter who recorded and produced the record mostly by himself in his room. However, after my first listen through, one thing is clear. Max Gowan has something going for him. From his gorgeous use of lo-fi to the innocence of youth in his ernest lyrics, it’s a record that sounds so much more mature than his age.
There’s a charm to lo-fi when it’s used properly. Happyness perfected it with their debut “Weird Little Birthday,” and this is where I’m going to draw a lot of comparisons. Gowan isn’t wordy. He’s not trying to reach something terribly profound with his lyrics. He’s honest. Whether he’s drawing from his life experiences or is simply creating these emotions is lost on me, but what I do know is that his calming vocals compliment the often folk-influenced music and somewhat soft angst that run as a theme through the album.
That lyrical theme is evident in album opener “Rare Thing,” which is one of the strongest songs on the record, when Gowan sings, “I thought I saw a tragic streak of luck and ingenuity / It flashed across your filtered screen / it’s gone again cause it’s a rare thing.”
The album takes off in the second half with a slew of strong entries like “Big People,” “Here (Part 1),” and “Open Letter to Heaven.” “Snow,” which feels like a partner to the album closer, is a standout track. It has a light feeling that begets itself to both a song to chill or jam to.
However, where the album shows Gowan’s true potential is in the album closer “Everything Is Cool.” It’s easily the best song on the record. The faint influence of surf rock with lyrics that really tap into the life of a teenager living in the suburbs feels a lot like early Real Estate, which is one of the greatest compliments a writer from New Jersey (ahem… me) can give. It’s basically the anthem of the album that ties it together. It’s the discontent of a teenager. It’s not overly contemptuous towards life—it’s real. That’s what takes the album out of the realm of “good for what it is” and moves it to just plain good.
For me, the weakest part of the record is the production. Lo-fi is hard to get right. A few bands have in my opinion. There’s Brooklyn’s violent pop group Sharpless, chillwave band Bellows, and, of course, Happyness. With the fuzziness of the music and muffles of the guitars, I would have liked the vocals to be buried a little bit more to give it all a grittier sound. However, that’s just nitpicking at this point.
It’s a very confident debut. Those two words aren’t often paired together. For a 12-track LP that didn’t have the support that a lot of albums have, it’s truly a remarkable achievement. Can he improve? Of course he can. Nonetheless, at this age with this talent Max Gowan is going to make a name for himself. You mark my words.
You can purchase “Big People” for any price over on Bandcamp.
Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.