Labels: self released
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Some good stuff here, and some not so good stuff here. The not so good stuff is when the vocals sound like a gruff Tim Kinsella, although thankfully this is only on the opener “Driving”. Also there are some keyboards in these songs, super low in the mix, which combined with the music suggests an over appreciation of “Something to Write Home About”, which is something I certainly am not desiring. “Amateur Cartography” is the stand out song on this EP, at least for the first three quarters. It powers along with a giddying bassline, and the vocals are so much better on this one – sung rather than shouted and the whole feel is like something off the first Beezewax album, which certainly strikes a chord with me. However the band show a total disdain for their own music by brutally slaying a beautiful piece of perfected college rock with a dismal gang vocal finale featuring lyrics like “getting wasted with our friends”. Why this cliche was plastered all over such a nice bit of music, I will never fathom. The slow drawl of the otherwise delightful “Maxwell” is also spoiled by drunken dudes yelling. STOP IT DOWSING, JUST STOP IT.
The college rock thing tends to be the dominant style over these 6 songs, and it’s nice to hear a band tackling this substantially out of fashion style. I can’t imagine there are a huge amount of people out there who want to hear it. I can appreciate that a band will want to experiment with other “cooler” sounds in their music but there seems to be a talent here for writing smooth, poppy indie rock, and my suggestion is that Dowsing focus on what they’re good at.