A tape recorder hiss and a cheap electronic metronome constitute the greeting sounds of the eclectic lo-fi crusade, Thom & the Tomcats on the intriguing and pleasantly enduring album, Recurring Dreams. “Open as a Door” is an outsider’s lonely reflection on memory and its repression. The song begins with a melancholy Casio flute cadence and somber guitar arpeggio before being accompanied by a youthful, Maureen Tucker-like vocalization. Meghan Hollet, the woman behind the song’s vocals, exhibits a perfect amount of quirkiness; she’s not a Juno obsessor but she’s no plain-Jane. Her words feel childish but are in no way immature. In her quaint yet distinguished voice she sings, “memory is more like a scar than a tattoo/in the end it’s like a friend that you can’t hold on to,” revealing the struggle that occurs when the mind tries to make sense of time. The entire album is entertaining and full of philosophical one-liners that wouldn’t be hurt by annotation. Thom & the Tomcats and their unique take on lthe lo-fi scene stand strongly apart from the stereotypical Daniel Johnston imitator, and it’s an extremely refreshing distance.
Here is a link to the band’s band camp, good stuff: Thom and the Tomcats Bandcamp
THE ENDLESS BUMMER 