At this point, I’m pretty convinced that Nicholas Krgovich is one of the most overlooked pop auteurs of our time. Various Krgovich projects, such as P:ano, No Kids, and Gigi, make it abundantly clear that the dude has a deep understanding of a myriad of pop genres and knows how to warp their harmonic/formal structures in consistently beautiful ways. On his latest solo record Who Cares?, Krgovich manages to combine a number of the various styles that his bands have mined into a subtle coherent whole that perfectly illustrates his songwriting craftsmanship.
Who Cares? is entirely centered around Krgovich’s voice and ukulele/guitar playing with minimal synths, bass, percussion, and backing vocals popping up on each track. This is perhaps the sparsest recording Krgovich’s done since P:ano’s minimal masterpiece Ghost Pirates Without Heads and there are definitely moments on”Loser,” “My Song,” and “A Reverie” that recall the folky work of that album. However, lots of Who Cares? falls very much in line with Krgovich’s explorations of warped contemporary R&B with No Kids and 50’s girl groups with Gigi. While both No Kids and Gigi’s records often explored their respective styles through production/arrangements, Who Cares? manages to reference these signifiers through Krgovich’s chords and vocals alone, illustrated impeccably in tracks like “Baby Blue Tutu” and “Party With Lewis.” Krgovich’s vocals throughout the record are particularly remarkable. While he’s always been a strong singer, Who Cares? finds the songwriter displaying an impressive range and his ability to evoke so many stylistic references with such a minimum of materials is largely due to this new-found emphasis on crooning. All of this musical subtlety works beautifully to underscore one of the most bummed out and bleak narratives that Krgovich’s structured his records around.
Who Cares? is out now on vinyl via Jaz Records. You can stream the album in its entirety below:
• Nicholas Krgovich: http://www.nicholaskrgovich.com
• Jaz Records: http://www.jazrecords.com
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