Best of Gloucester County

Style: Quirky indie rock; compare to Deerhoof, The Welcome Wagon, Half Handed Cloud

The Best Of Gloucester County

Danielson, Danielson Famile, Daniel C. Smith, Elin K. Smith, Elin K. Smith, Andrew Wilson, Evan Mazunik, Lilly Smith, Rachel Galloway, Joshua Stamper, Michael Cemprola, Megan Slaboda, Ida Smith, Chris Cohen, Glen Galaxy, Mark Shippy, Sufjan Stevens, Daniel Smith, Patrick Berkery, Jens Lekman, Jon Rees, Emil Nikolaisen

SOUNDS FAMILYRE

February 22, 2011

The Best Of Gloucester County

Danielson, Danielson Famile, Daniel C. Smith, Elin K. Smith, Elin K. Smith, Andrew Wilson, Evan Mazunik, Lilly Smith, Rachel Galloway, Joshua Stamper, Michael Cemprola, Megan Slaboda, Ida Smith, Chris Cohen, Glen Galaxy, Mark Shippy, Sufjan Stevens, Daniel Smith, Patrick Berkery, Jens Lekman, Jon Rees, Emil Nikolaisen

SOUNDS FAMILYRE

February 22, 2011

Top tracks: “You Sleep Good Now,” “This Day Is a Loaf,” “Lil Norge”

Best of Gloucester County is Danielson’s most accessible release to date. Frontman Daniel Smith has embraced the virtue of restraint, improving his already seminal gospel-indie-pop repertoire. What was discordant clatter 17 years ago now sounds like artfully developed composition. On “Grow Up” Smith sings of his maturity, “My social life’s gone and I’m mowing my lawn / When I should be up on that stage, with the glitz and my rage.” Not unlike the very trajectory of Danielson, Best of Gloucester County is quirky initially, but calms down midway through, hushing ever quieter until a most satisfying end.

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