aaamusic | On 01, Aug 2010

Anyone here missing out on satisfyingly loud and tongue-in-cheek grunge? Because if you are, I have just found your new favourite band. Dinosaur Pile-Up have, with their new single ‘Birds And Planes’ managed to combine devil-may-care attitude with concrete punk rock noise and a sense of whimsy. Not for many years has “nothing is for sure, you know, except the day you go to hell” been sung with such a light heart.

And that’s where this band go right. Given the pounding musical context with sludgy basslines, chaotic chainsaw riffing and frantic yet well-kept rhythm supplied what sounds like a cymbal factory being attacked by a firing squad with machine guns, not to mention the energetic vocals that are fully capable of raw yelps, the easy way out would have been to write a suitably angsty, full-on tantrum song about being misunderstood. But they haven’t. Instead, the dissatisfaction of a life not going to plan has been routed into flights of fantasy and a weary yet healthy sense of humour. Even the music has been tweaked for this, the rhythm in the verses skipping playfully, and the vocals demonstrating an ability to elastically leap from rapid yet light-hearted verses to slow drawling choruses.

To an extent, I am wondering if this is what might have happened if Nirvana had grown up to the soundtrack of Britpop and skate-punk. The sonic heritage of fuzz and distortion and hitting the sound as loud as you dare is there especially on the roaring bassline that sounds like a homage to ‘On A Plain’, but the bleak nihilism is on holiday, replaced with a wry smirk and a drive to carry on. These guys could – and should – go far.

Author: Katie H-Halinski