 This
Shit's For Sale
This ain't no pussy Brooklyn shit. Yeah,
sure, they're a Brooklyn band, but they're not your mamby pamby
boy/girl duo, tinkling synth dandies or fuzzed out noisers.
No, they're a straight up indie rock band in the grand tradition
of old school indie rock bands. Drawing from such influences
as Pixies, fellow old school Brooklyn
darlings, Les Savy Fav, and
a healthy dose of early Modest Mouse,
Dirt Bikes have made a loud, messy rock party album that invites
the listener to join right the hell in. And it's in this loudness
and this messiness that they transcend the bullshit. Rather
than toe the hipster line and keep the audience at arm's length
with coolness, these guys (and girl) attack their instruments
and give us the rawness that's missing from way too much music
these days. Lead singer Richard Lehmann sings in a painful yelp
that makes you want to just help the guy and save him from whatever
is eating him up from the inside. This while the music swirls
around him, alive and urgent and swaggering. The nicest surprise is the strength of the album
from front to back, the energy and freshness never waning, and
their live sound (having seen them in person a few times) not
at all compromised with studio tricks and that horrible echo chamber shit that's been all over modern records these days. It's a cocksure album to be sure, but even
when it feels like the band is trying to make you dance and
sweat and fear it, there's a heavy dose of smart that's winking
at you telling you that, yes, all shit's for sale. |
|
Booze
& Grub
Hipster
Movie Reviews
Hipster
Book Reviews