John Dufilho is the main man of the Dallas garage rock act The Deathray Davies, and here he is putting out a li'l side-project under his own name, featuring the man himself on all instruments. As you might be aware, sometimes a rocker's just gotta unwind, and that's what Dufilho does on I Remain, as Always. He strafes between melancholy guitar sing-a-longs like "Nobody's Right, Nobody's Wrong," and drum machine, Magnetic Fields-style poppers like "My Circuits are Blown" and "Now I'm a Stick Figure," whose titles even sound like Merritt originals. So is there a reason to care? I got tired of this sort of thing around the time I stopped listening to the Eels, whose friendly-sad-gruff-guy sound this record more or less approximates. I give Dufilho a bit of credit for attempting instrumental numbers like "The Bridge of Stolen Bicycles," but this and songs like the They Might Be Giants sound-alike "When Madness Strikes Again" really just prove the difference between a band performing their chosen genre and a guy dabbling in the field. There's worse and more grating material on the album too, but at just under 29 minutes, at least Dufilho doesn't make us listen to it for long. Not so good.
1. I'm Gonna Stay Under These Covers Today
2. What Are You Waiting For?
3. Now I'm a Stick Figure
4. Nobody's Right, Nobody's Wrong
5. My Circuits are Blown
6. The Bridge of Stolen Bicycles
7. When Madness Strikes Again
8. I Can Be Nothing but Trouble
9. Check the Engine
10. Paper Hats and Campfire Hands
11. Nate and Gray's Theme
12. I'm Outside
13. You're the One that Makes Me Lose It
14. Secret Song
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