While not completely divorced from the jangly, glazed-over pop of Makeout Videotape, the new set of songs had a darker tone, and vague themes of androgyny and late-night loneliness shared space on the set list with goofy Ween-like moments. In early 2012 he signed to the Brooklyn indie label Captured Tracks, and shortly thereafter released his debut mini-album, Rock and Roll Night Club, under his own name. In an abrupt switch-up, he moved to Montreal in 2011, dropping the band in favor of a solo career. DeMarco also began assembling a bevy of strangely psychedelic videos during this time, all baffling, and some even pertaining to the band. Makeout Videotape continued to perform locally and regionally as well as release new songs both digitally and physically throughout the next few years. The band quickly gained regional recognition, signing to Unfamiliar Records and going on tour with labelmates Japandroids in the fall of 2009. The limited run of CDs soon sold out, and Makeout Videotape ambled into the live performance realm with the inclusion of additional players Alex Calder and Jen Clement. Immediately after finishing high school in the summer of 2008, DeMarco moved from his hometown to the warmer climes of Vancouver and self-released Heat Wave, a collection of songs he wrote and recorded while bored and listless in his new surroundings. He first emerged from complete obscurity under the moniker Makeout Videotape. Mac DeMarco was born Vernor Winfield MacBriare Smith IV in 1990, growing up in Edmonton, Alberta.

His 2017 album This Old Dog again explored themes of getting older, this time with upgraded production, a trend that continued on 2019's Here Comes the Cowboy, which he released on his own imprint.

Subsequent moves to New York and Los Angeles each yielded quality releases on which the multi-instrumentalist DeMarco became known for playing and recording all of the parts himself. Early releases on Captured Tracks and endless touring enlarged DeMarco's fan base, and the 2014 album Salad Days pushed his strange mix of slacker pop, jazz, '70s soft rock, and glam into the vanguard realm, selling tens of thousands of copies and changing the shape of what was happening in indie rock at the time. While his image projected a charmingly laid-back slacker prone to occasional antics and never taking anything too seriously, his songs have ironically often hid mature themes like aging, commitment, and morals under layers of chorus and reverb. Combining a goofball public persona with a distinctive songwriting style and production sound, Canadian artist Mac DeMarco rose to the higher reaches of indie fame unexpectedly quickly.

Mac demarco discography torrent