Album Review - Titanic Sinclair "Thick Jello"

The headline of the post read: "I spent the past two years making a record in my bedroom on a $25 mixing board. It would mean a lot if you gave it a listen." I was skeptical, but, every so often, a Reddit post like this has yielded some interesting music. A millisecond's trip over to bandcamp and I found myself listening to a one-man act called Titanic Sinclair. Three songs later, it was clear this needed to be reviewed. Come listen.

From his bandcamp bio, Titanic Sinclair is an artist currently living in Los Angeles, CA. He is one half of the group Mars Argo and co-creator of Grocerybag.tv. Reading some of the details he was posting in replies to the Reddit thread about Thick Jello revealed he sequenced the drums based on real drum samples using Logic and that he mic'd himself using a Shure SM58 in his bedroom to capture his vocals and Fender Mustang guitar into a used, $25 Behringer Xenyx 502 mixer. The very definition of the D-I-Y aesthetic in the truest sense of the acronym. But the proof is in the end result. Press play, now.


The embedded player is set to start on track 3 (read on to learn why that was a very smart decision on the part of Titanic Sinclair) so you will have to skip back to start the album proper.

"Shooting on Black" - This broody instrumental revolves on a hard electronic synth and drum groove with just the right amount of grunge emoting from Sinclair's Fender Mustang.

"Anything at All" - and here comes the first curve ball. Following the near-cyber punk grind of the opener, Titanic Sinclair follows on with a gentle sounding piece, revealing his vocals for the first time. They are fragile, not pitch perfect (in an Amanda Palmer way) but most importantly, they feel real. Like many of the tracks here, it is simple in its delivery which holds much of the appeal.

"Limousine Machine (featuring Mars Argo)" - This is the hit single. Or it should be. It is an instant earworm, grabbing hold of you with it's playful synth pop melodies and the cutesy bounce in the vocal delivery of Argo in the chorus. You shouldn't be able to get this one out of your head quickly, which is likely the reason Sinclair chose to have his bandcamp player automagically start on this track. The lyrical reference of "The cake's a lie" from the videogame, Portal is subtle, as is the guitar, which trots along in time with the drum line, while Sinclair's lyrics and synths drive the song. In a perfect world, this song would be in a scrappy, Hollywood indie film.

"Blank Check" - Titanic Sinclair downshifts suddenly after the poppy bounce of the previous number. Primarily guitar and vox and less Liverpudlian-sounding than in his delivery during "Anything at All." A very pretty piece of melancholia.

"The Medicine Man" - A short, delicate instrumental, combining the one-two (gentle) punch of guitar and synth.

"Catch Me if You Can" - Sinclair picks things back up a bit on this one. The vocals get a bit swallowed in the mix when the guitar and synth lines join the chorus, but it isn't really bad per se when you consider his recording set up. Raw, but real, which is the through line of the album.

"Throw Your Thoughts Away" - For being recorded by one person on a used Behringer mixer, this sounds most impressive. The pace slows down but the ethereal mix on his vocals is a nice touch.

"Weightless Egos" - Just guitar and vox. Quiet, introspective vocals. The simple D-I-Y mix is completely apropos for this. Record this in an expensive studio and you would never capture the charm.

"Thick Jello" - 31 seconds of fun with messing around with audio. Which in no way readies your ears for the next track.

"Into the Flames" - Usually, a heavy music artist will surprise you with a gentle, acoustic ballad to show they have a softer side and are capable of doing more than just RAWKing out. Titanic Sinclair approaches this same conceit from a completely opposite point of view. And he brings it. His Mustang set to a gnarly crunch, Sinclair grinds out a wicked, chugging riff, conjuring up visions of the evil woman about which his words preach. The lyrics are deliciously drenched in subversive entendre. Remember the scene in From Dusk Till Dawn where Salma Hayek bumps and grinds to Tito & Tarantula's "Only After Dark"? Yeah, this ups the diabolical factor by a factor of six to the sixth power. My second favourite track after "Limousine Machine." Something tells me that deep down in Titanic Sinclair is a well-spoken rocker clawing to get out. Play this one loud.

"732" - And the next curve ball from Sinclair comes sailing over the plate. After the rock and raunch of the previous song, he's gone full retro. For the first time, the drums sound computerized, obviously on purpose, as the beat was undeniably born in the 80's, complete with a synth line straight out of Miami Vice or the more recent Drive. It was a bold move book ending the album not just with instrumentals, but ones that sound so disparate from each other.

Thick Jello is wonderfully everywhere at once, but listened to in context, it all really does make sense. Yes, you can easily drop any of these tracks into a Genius playlist and you will get enjoyment out of them, but track through this the way the artist intended, and you will likely get even more from it. Is the album raw? Yes, but not in a bad way. Sure there are places he could improve, but frankly, I don't think that was the point of the recording. This is not some suburban kid bashing out three chords into a four-track recorder while his friend does terrible death growl vocals into the built-in mic. Listen to Titanic Sinclair, and you can hear the care and passion which the artist put into into recording it.

The stream is free, but please support the artist when you can. Titanic Sinclair "Thick Jello" is available now via bandcamp.

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