The Flower Lane

The Flower Lane is the fourth studio album by the American indie rock project Ducktails, released on January 28, 2013 on Domino. Co-produced by Matt Mondanile and Al Carlson, The Flower Lane was the first Ducktails album to be recorded in a full studio environment.

The Flower Lane
Studio album by Ducktails
Released	January 28, 2013
Recorded	Gary's Electric Studio, Brooklyn, New York
Genre	Indie rock, psychedelic pop, dream pop
Label	Domino
Producer	Al Carlson, Ducktails
Ducktails chronology
Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics (2011) The Flower Lane (2013) St. Catherine (2015)

The album's overall aesthetic resembles a full band recording, and features contributions from Big Troubles, Joel Ford, Daniel Lopatin, Sam Mehran, Martin Courtney and Madeline Follin.

Background and recording

The album was recorded in 2012 at Gary's Electric Studio, in Brooklyn, New York. Regarding the recording location, primary recording artist Matt Mondanile noted: "I loved recording at Gary’s Electric Studio because it’s like four or five blocks from my house, so every day I’d get out of bed and spend about twelve hours there. I’ve always wanted to do a record like that."[1]

Unlike Mondanile's previous Ducktails releases, the album featured collaborations from other artists: "People would just walk into the studio and see how they could change the record. I’d spent so much time recording by myself, so I thought this would be something different.”[1]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	72/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
The A.V. Club	B[3]
Allmusic	[4]
The Guardian	[5]
Mojo	[2]
NME	5/10[6]
Paste	6/10[7]
Pitchfork Media	7.1/10[8]
Popmatters	[9]
Q	[2]
Slant Magazine	[10]

In a mostly positive for Pitchfork, Steven Hyden praised the album's production and collaborative nature the recording process: "The Flower Lane is the latest progression for what now resembles a fully fledged group. Mondanile's hasn't tempered the echoes of his other band in Ducktails, but he isn't confined to Real Estate's shadow, either."[8]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Ivy Covered House"	3:29
2.	"The Flower Lane"	4:28
3.	"Under Cover"	6:09
4.	"Timothy Shy"	4:04
5.	"Planet Phrom"	3:30
6.	"Assistant Director"	3:54
7.	"Sedan Magic"	4:41
8.	"International Date Line"	1:58
9.	"Letter of Intent"	5:19
10.	"Academy Avenue"	2:49

Personnel

Musicians

• Matt Mondanile – vocals, guitar, keyboards, drum machine, synth, percussion
• Ian Drennan – electric piano, synth, keyboards, saxophone, backing vocals
• Luka Usmiani – bass guitar
• Alex Craig – guitar, backing vocals
• Sam Franklin – drums, backing vocals, synth
• Joel Ford – bass, backing vocals
• Daniel Lopatin – synth
• Sam Mehran – guitar
• Martin Courtney – piano
• Madeline Follin – vocals (7)
• Jessa Farkas – vocals (9)
• Al Carlson – flute

Recording personnel

• Matt Mondanile – producer
• Al Carlson – producer, engineer, mixing

References

1. Zoladz, Lindsay. "Beat Construction: Ducktails". thefader.com. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
2. "Critic Reviews for The Flower Lane". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
3. Mincher, Chris (January 29, 2013). "Ducktails: The Flower Lane". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
4. Thomas, Fred. "The Flower Lane - Ducktails". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
5. Hann, Michael (January 24, 2013). "Ducktails: The Flower Lane – review". The Guardian. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
6. Fullerton, Jamie (January 24, 2013). "Ducktails - 'The Flower Lane'". NME. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
7. Hendrickson, John (January 29, 2013). "Ducktails: The Flower Lane". Paste. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
8. Hyden, Steven. "Ducktails: The Flower Lane". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
9. Ramirez, Aj (January 31, 2013). "Ducktails: The Flower Lane". Popmatters. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
10. Liedel, Kevin (January 25, 2013). "Ducktails: The Flower Lane". Slant Magazine. Retrieved January 10, 2016.