Matthew Mondanile, best known as a guitarist with Real Estate, released his third record today as Ducktails: Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics. The album is a blissful piece of surf-side Americana, maintaining the Real Estate formula of layers of summery guitar plucking, but combining it with lethargic percussion in the style of Ariel Pink, grainy background noise, the occasional keyboard and a recurring use of the tambourine which adds a certain sixties vibe . Vocals feature much more than on any other of his releases too, but they are all kept at a safe distance behind fuzz and reverb, which adds to the reflective quality of the album. This is indicative of all the tracks as Ducktails adopts a do-it-yourself approach to recording, none of the sounds being over produced, resulting in a blurry nostalgia that builds throughout. "Don't Make Plans" stands out due to its soulful sound, showing some unexpected Motown influences, and its charmingly childish sentiments as Mondanile murmurs "Don't have plans to be a man". "Killin' the Vibe" features Noah Lennox, their vocals conjuring up images of kids on break from college, while "The Razor's Edge" goes in a different direction still, having a looping Residents' inspired synth. On the surface this sounds like a straight forward ode to youth and the beach, and this is certainly at the heart of Arcade Dynamics, but it also allows a wide range of influences to creep in to the vintage sounding guitar jams. It is a step forward for Ducktails, albeit a cautious one as all the familiar sounds are still there, but it provides the perfect soundtrack for a lazy day spent reminiscing through the haze of summer and cigarettes. 7/10

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