Rangers: “John Is The Last Of A Dying Breed”.

October 13, 2011, 1 comments

Whatever you might think about the concept of “hypnagogic pop” roughly two years after its incarnation, and whoever you might want to include, provided you consider the term useful or apt in any way, Joe Knight aka Rangers (who most would count as having a top spot in the h-pop pantheon) certainly put the original idea of translating faintly remembered, glossy 80s pop sounds perceived in a state of half-consciousness into a perfect stream of slightly melancholic haziness on a whole new level. And however you put it, last year’s Suburban Tours (Olde English Spelling Bee) was not only a masterpiece, but also – again, if it exists – one of the genre’s defining moments.

Now, almost twelve months after the first cut “Zombies” (now extended by the appendix “Day”) appeared on these pages, and only a few months after his stellar split with KWJAZ Lite (Brunch Groupe), Knight has readied his second proper full-length Pan Am Stories, released a few days ago by Not Not Fun. The double LP is another, immensely expansive trip into the other side of your memories, in every aspect living up to the expectations that had been left by Suburban Tours and clearly one of those releases that 2011 will be remembered for. Without compromising his sonic conception, Knight has vastly refined his skills in arrangement and, occasionally, even applied something that amounts to actual songwriting. All this is incredibly catchy in all its swirling psychedelia and soft rock leanings, perfectly encapsulated in the sundrenched (in a very autumnal sort of way), misty slow-burner “John Is The Last Of A Dying Breed”, one of the finest tracks on this amazing album.

Get Pan Am Stories now via Boomkat or directly over at Not Not Fun.

Also check “Conversations on a Jet Stream”, recently premiered by The Fader:

Rangers – Conversations on a Jet Stream

Previously:

Rangers – Zombies (Day)

Rangers – Xochimilco (Excerpt) (from the split cassette Angel Island with KWJAZ Lite)