aaamusic | On 14, Mar 2011

The Dears harmonize and lull like morphine with opener ‘Omega Dog’, but the underlying innocence merely underlines the gothic crash and rumble that grows on the surface like a raging squall.  The guitar builds and breaks leaving the listener silenced for track two ‘5 Chords’.

Lead vocals cast the mind back to the golden age of electro Goth, with semblances of Robert Smith and The Sisters of Mercy, while the harmonies – choral in style – mimic the guitar driven crescendo of the previous track.

‘Blood’s ‘wall of sound’ that has punctuated the previous tracks and the album as a whole shall be explained in further detail later on.  This time the aforementioned background of distorted guitars lends the track a similarity to Radiohead’s ‘Paranoid Android’, which is nothing to be sniffed at.

‘Thrones’ throws a curve ball into the mix with its lilting melodies and brilliant Bowiesque vocals. This is clearly a track upon which the LP turns on its axis, allowing the listener a glimpse of a calmer side to The Dears.

Track 5 is logically the end of this 14 track masterpiece where the band literally add, as in ‘Thrones’, yet another string to their bow.  The use of violins in place of guitars is sublime and marks the group out as more than just a one trick pony.

Track 7 shows yet more glimpses of Bowie’s influence over the band’s sound while maintaining the slower bpm that began in ‘Thrones’.  This does not mean that the story ends there; not in the least.  The track builds to a howling crescendo backed by a spectacular Omenesque choral arrangement.

‘Yesteryear’ is a complete break from all that has gone before with its happy-go-lucky mixture of 50’s rock and roll and generation X alternative Indie pop.

‘Stick with me kid’ is the beginning of the end of the album where darkness and paranoia prevail.  Lines such as “I’ll run till there’s nowhere left to run/ I’ll love till there’s no one left to love…”.   This tune is fun yet courses with veins of crimson, and yet further howls of anguish amongst an army of voices fit for Westminster Abbey.

The final tracks ‘Tiny Man’ to the culminating ‘Degeneration Street’ reek of paranoia and hurt with the phrase “We’re people you can trust/ There’s none else like us” showing that in this band’s mind’s eye there is no one to be relied upon but oneself.

In short, this collocation of influences as far afield as the Beatles to Bauhaus is nothing short of a powerful statement of intent that does more than just hint at a well of imagination and passion.

A beautiful, awe-inspiring opus, the likes of which will grab alt rock by the scruff of the neck, kicking and screaming into the new decade.

Sublime.

Author: Guy Waddington