Mikal Cronin is a pretty impressive dude: he recently earned a BFA in Music and Composition, plays bass in the Ty Segall band, and even has his own limited edition Merge Records T-Shirt. On MCII, Cronin’s sophomore effort, he presents the listener with 10 solid tracks that range from a piano ballad to fuzzed out rock. The instrumentation, all of which performed by Cronin, doesn’t limit itself to guitars, drum, and bass. Cronin makes good use of string arrangements and wails on a saxophone. The album’s first single, “Shout It Out” starts off flowery, but quickly shifts to a power pop anthem when he kicks on the distortion in the song’s chorus. While MCII won’t have you rocking out quite as hard as Ty Segall Band’s Slaughterhouse, the dynamics and varied instrumentation are something to be admired and do not disappoint.
