In the past four years, Mikal Cronin’s reputation has been as one component of a greater rock’n'roll outfit. As a member of the Moonhearts (formerly Charlie & the Moonhearts), he churned out some excellent garage bashers. With his friend, consummate garage dude Ty Segall, he recorded Reverse Shark Attack, an entire LP of short rock tunes and one weird, long B-side. Now, with his self-titled debut on the way, Cronin stretches his legs to record a clean, ridiculously catchy song with tons of layers. There’s an opening with just an acoustic guitar, a low rumbling piano that drops in and opens a wave of distorted guitars and drums, and an Eastern psych outro with some unidentifiable horns.
But just going through what happens in each layer doesn’t really do the song justice. It’s the full scale of things that makes “Apathy” so great– the harmonies, the song structuring, the piles of instruments, but mostly, the anxious feeling that’s strung throughout the song. Cronin really brings out that anxiety by pausing the song multiple times, which splits lyrics apart, grabs the listener’s attention, and makes them anticipate the big payoff– the chorus. And the vocal hook in the chorus is really enough to get the song over, with its dragging mantra of “I don’t want apathy” and its sudden, jarring vocal leaps. It’s a song with a lot to grab onto, and it’s a killer introduction to Cronin as a solo artist.
