We loved Mikal Cronin’s MCII so much that weeks after we first heard it, we began to obsess over it. We literally couldn’t get it out of our mind — or play anything else. From Ty Segall friend and acolyte, to superstar in his own right, Mikal’s second album was an amazing confection of power pop and rockn’roll, the songwriting strong, the playing sharp.
Here’s what we thought at the time:
“We enjoyed Mikal Cronin’s first solo album, but honestly, the reason we were so interested in him was in his role as a Ty Segal sideman and collaborator. The reflected glory, the association, was sufficient to get our attention, but to hold it, he needed to produce a record we wanted to listen to as avidly as anything done by his harder rocking, shaggy friend. Happily, now comes his wonderful second album, MCII, which fits directly into a modern power pop milieu familiar to anyone who loves the New Pornographers/A.C. Newman or Brendan Benson/Raconteurs.
But damn if, on the third album’s third song, “Am I Wrong” — the song on which Ty lends a hand — you don’t immediately think of Kelley Stoltz. Wait, you don’t mean… Yes! We have the missing link! The twain has met, Ty Segall and Kelley Stoltz are connected! See the electricity arc! Somewhere busking in the middle of Union Square, we see Ty and Kelley backing up Mikal, who by now has joined their ranks!
It’s a terrific album. It would take the FBI to distinguish between the falsetto registers that Mikal and A.C. Newman can sometimes hit, which is a compliment. In fact, there are moments when we swear we’re listening to the new album by Woods. But this is a wholly original, deeply satisfying foray into modern American power pop, and wholly worthy of your interest in its own right, not just as an extension of Segallmania.”
Tulip Frenzy 