Labels: Ache
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Woah! This CDEP, the last ever release from DBS, is just sooooo 1997/98! It completely oozes the emo-rock sound of that time. Not that this is a bad thing. I loved that style back then, it was so different from the dodgy stuff I was listening to before I got hooked on the catchy, bouncy and slightly quirky rock music of bands such as Braid. Ever since then, emo-rock has gotten progressively less interesting to me, with most of the bands of that style around today sounding more like Travis and Coldplay than building on what Braid or the Promise Ring had done. It’s a shame that such an exciting style of melodic rock music has become lost amidst a mire of bands that suck, really.
Anyway, lets get back to DBS, who most definitely do not suck one iota on this 5 tracker. I had never heard the band before this release, though according to the inlay they have been around for 9 years! Woah. Over the course of the 5 songs here they are playing that Braid style of mathy indie rock, here a stop, there a start, here a broken vocal piece, there a super bouncy section. And it works superbly well, they have honed the style to a tee, infusing it with the necessary energy that makes it all work. At other times they play a more straight forward, driving rock sound, that brings to mind the Wrens, particularly when they bring things to a messy close on “Last Chance for A Bad Dance”. Is that a Braid style title or what? In fact other titles include “The Weather or Not” and “Our Son, Arson”. Shit, it really is that innocent sound of 1998 all over again for me! Even vocally they are all about the off-key boyish tones that were all the rage back when, lots of desperately sung lyrics, and no silly out-of-place screams to be heard at all. Wonderful.
If you ever yearn for the days of the “Frame & Canvas” era Braid, the Spy vs Spy CDEP, or how Mid Carson July sounded before they went rubbish, then this record will be totally up your street. Raise a glass to DBS and their last hurrah that sees them breathing life back into a seemingly dead style of music. Have a good one.