Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti’s newest album, “Mature Themes”, seems vaguely familiar

Richard DiCicco
Contributing Writer

How can I describe Ariel Pink? His work occupies the space somewhere between the cheesy hold music on a tech helpline and something called ‘soft rock.’

Most of the time, Pink plays it straight (at one point crooning, “We’ll always have Paris” like you were both there), but at all other moments, he’s a babbling prankster. Pink scandalizes these bland genres in a knowing way, co- opting their stylistic hallmarks for his own dense sonic palette. Ironically, the result is like nothing you have ever heard.

On “Mature Themes,” Pink returns with his band Haunted Graffiti to produce a record that sounds impressively distinct from his breakthrough album, 2010’s “Before Today,” while continuing to refine and elaborate on his idiosyncratic style. Much like before, Ariel Pink works by scrounging up bits and pieces of kitsch ‘70s pop music to construct coherent songs, transforming familiar sounds into something totally new and organic.

Within his discography, “Mature Themes” is a natural progression. Pink’s albums with Haunted Graffiti are distinguished by their weathered production, in which every track sounds like a warped old cassette you found in your dad’s glove compartment.

The band’s guitars and drums are splattered and fuzzy as if you tuned into their station just a few frequencies off-center. Pink’s character saturates the very texture of his recordings; an impressive feat, typical of much more established artists

The songs on “Mature Themes” are tighter and more sure of themselves than its predecessor, and are unafraid to veer into alienating territory. The title track and “Only In My Dreams” kiss the listener with lilting, superbly crafted pop songs, while the record’s second half indulges a song about a nymphomaniac and “Schnitzel Boogie,” a track so self-consciously bad that it becomes its own punchline. A nearly five-minute song about eating schnitzel really feels more like a commercial break.

At points, one begins to wonder if any of his music should be taken at face value, but this playfulness proves to be Pink’s defining trait. The songwriter works like Andy Warhol, taking disposable, mass-produced culture- in this case, silky ‘70s pop- and making it stand for something concrete.
There exists a certain vague familiarity to each song, like Pink and Haunted Graffiti are aping some band that you can never quite remember. At points, he stretches the music to its limits, such as on the closer “Nostradamus and Me,” a droning psychedelic drifter whose bassline hops around like an excited kid despite the abrupt shift in atmosphere.

The real strength of the record is Ariel Pink’s dampened reliance on the pastiche and genre-play that drove his previous release. Whereas “Before Today” was a lush quilt of disparate pop styles, “Mature Themes” revels in aged colors and textures, evoking the sounds of a bygone era through feel rather than winking gimmicks. As a result, Pink’s music now flexes nuance over novelty.

However, with maturity comes a realization that you cannot continue to wear old clothes if they do not fit. “Mature Themes” is a strong record, but one of its few failing aspects is its sarcasm and insincerity.

I have always  wondered if there was any reason to even bother analyzing Mr. Pink’s lyrics. Even in his most earnest declarations of love and devotion, these songs sound firmly tongue-in-cheek. The vapidity of lines like, “Suicide dumplings dropping testicle bombs,” (“Kinski Assassin”) only serve to hold Pink back as an artist. Non-sequitors in indie rock stopped amusing me sometime after Beck’s “Midnite Vultures.”

That being said, “Mature Themes” shines with an imaginative kaleidoscope of colors and musical ideas that are rarely engaged by Ariel Pink’s contemporaries. This record sounds like something you might hear on a public access station at 3 a.m.; detached and slightly disturbed, but brilliant in its own off-kilter way.