'Pop band, some songs,' the message said and that's always a good sign. I could choose this point to go off on a rant at promoters who assume I'm going to be swayed to play something because they sound like someone else or because someone on another radio station has already told them, but I won't because I'd rather talk about Dot Dash.
Dot Dash are a four piece from Washington DC. All four of them have histories with other fine bands and I'll admit to being excited that Jim Spellman from Velocity Girl was a member, because I particularly loved them, but other than that by far the most important thing about them is not biography but, of course, the tunes. And the tunes are fantastic: potent post-punk guitars, diverse rhythms, irresistible hooks - the works.
I've said before that, while I dread the day when a pile of guitar-shredding noise or pounding electronica doesn't excite the hell out of me, sometimes I'm most impressed of all by a band that has a load of great songs and can play them with style and imagination. That's where Dot Dash come in, because their album Half-Remembered Dream is chock full of such things. And, as a bonus, this is melody-fuelled guitar music with a real edge to it: 'Do Re Mi', one of its many highlights, wings along on frantic drums and a guitar line to die, while a big favourite already is the urgent 'A Light In The Distance', where clipped, choppy guitars are the frame for Banks' vocal dexterity. Great to hear a singer who can clearly sing but doesn't come out like a soulless automaton.
I'm playing the excellent album opener '(Here's To) The Ghosts of the Past' in my October show on Dandelion Radio, which continues to stream at various times until the end of the month. The album can be downloaded from the band's bandcamp site here or on CD from their Canadian label The Beautiful Music here.
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