“Now and Then”, the new single by Crayon Fields frontman Geoffrey O’Connor, feels like listening to Television’s Adventure for the first time after memorizing all the guitar solos on Marquee Moon like the cracks on the sidewalk on St. Mark’s place. Marquee Moon is the “perfect” rock record because it just feels so raw, funneling all the excitement and torment of youth through structures so elaborate and precise that the whole thing seems continually on the verge of collapse. With Adventure, we hear the sound of all that crude talent finally becoming aware of itself, shining its shoes and trading in its ripped jeans for tailored slacks. For better or for worse, the reverb-dripping, crystal-clear production on Television’s second album automatically signals that the band has reached a new level of “maturity” — and somehow this logic carries over to “Now and Then”, where Geoffrey O’Connor sounds like he’s finally read to trade in his Harry Potter glasses and reflect wistfully, even a tad elegiacally, on the salad days of his youth. Definitely couldn’t think of a better soundtrack for loosening your tie at the end of a date with a bottle of fine bourbon.
Geoffrey O’Connor, “Now and Then”
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