August 15, 2010 ~ page Q - 33 of the San Francisco Chronicle
It’s probably a good thing that Vancouver’s Dan Mangan (due at the Fillmore on Sept. 14) busted his butt for all those years, accepting every gig he was offered and building a justly loyal fan base. Why? Because if you went by the album cover alone - a silhouette of Queen Elizabeth against a powder-blue background - you’d never know that Mangan is not only a superior songwriter, but also a poetically compelling singer. “Nice, Nice, Very Nice,” which takes its title from a Kurt Vonnegut poem, isn’t indie rock for the bookish crowd alone, but it’s helpful if you appreciate subtle irony, which infuses the 12 songs on this dazzling, heartbreaking album. The standout (and even that is absurd, given the breadth and musicality of the entire album) is “Road Regrets,” marked by the plaintive chorus (”Hell, I took you up on all your threats to leave/ It’s a shame, it’s a crying shame/ And ain’t it always the way that takes you back to from where it is you came”) and heart-throbbing percussion. On the strength of songs such as “The Indie Queens Are Waiting” (”Are you watching, or just waiting to see that your days are numbered?”) and “Basket” (”We are young, we have years ahead, maybe, we might fall in love or fall apart/ Before it ends, well we should try to start”), Mangan establishes himself as a ferociously savvy songwriter with intense musicality. Every time you listen to this album, expect your heart to break more, not always out of sadness, but out of sheer awe at the simple beauty he weaves in his music.
