Mcenroe

The newest EP from mcenroe is a tight little product, beginning with a cover photo of the EP. Convenience Store introduces the themes of convenience stores, our obsession for ever-greater convenience and the losses we suffer as a consequence of these obsessions. It's a depressing album that's equal to anything released by fellow P&Cers Fermented Reptile (Pip Skid & Gruf the Druid). Opening track "Corner Store" laments the death of independently-owned businesses replaced by conforming franchises. "Give Me Convenience," which follows "Corner Store" and appears together on mcenroe's upcoming Disenfranchised LP, is similar in theme but with a focus on conforming on a larger level. Among the nine tracks are also the one about the power abuses of the system ("Ahm The System"), the one about the money hungry nature of big business ("Safety In Numbers") and the one about the "half-assed, half-baked cheapskate that brings nothing to a pot luck," "You Wish." But the most fun comes from "6.25 At The First Window," an attack on "the drug dealers pushing at our kids with junk" that sounds best when heard back to back with Abs & Fase's endorsement of that same fast food industry, "Fast Fry," unfortunately only included on their own album. And it's pretty much become cliché already but the production on The Convenience EP is mcenroe's best work to date. It's very moody, but not dark, thanks to some great musical movements. Avoiding harsh sounds, mcenroe opts for soothing instruments like pianos, strings and woodwinds. It would be very difficult to find someone in Canada with as great an output of consistently good production as mcenroe has. Plus, there are also memorable guest appearances by Josh Martinez, Birdapres and mcenroe's Break Bread compatriots Pip Skid and John Smith, who all come off well but never really overshadow the star of the show on the mic. The Convenience EP is a great follow-up to his 1998 solo debut, The Ethics EP.