The watery cover art nouveau spells, “Dream Pop”. But with the addition of synthesizer Ned Cooke, and Nora the piano playing cat, Dappled Cities is bringing it like Jim Steinman and throwing it down like the Ventures. Nora’s affection for German composers influenced Dappled Cities title track “Granddance”; a Wagnerian Surfin’ Safari, that allows Tim Derricourt to showcases his whammytastic surf guitar, and Meatloafesque vocal technique.
“Vision Bell” is awesome; co-singers/songwriters Tim Derricourt and Dave Rennick’s interchangeable he/she “You’re The One That I Want” vocals make for a combination of Lightening Seeds’ “Pure” and the Klaxons cover of Grace’s “Not Over Yet”. The deliberate pace kept in “Holy Chord”, is that of Nora (she works the ivories in “Colour Coding” too.) The mystical tinkles twinkle, however the song ends strangely: “What does it mean to take off all our clothes and look into your eyes and say, ‘I mean it’?”
The nice surf ballad instrumentals of “The Eve The Girl” are in line with the English sensibility of the Shadows’ “Apache” and greatly understand how syllables override rhyming in lyricism (“Lone-ly love-less wid-ow”.)
Then they brought Steinman rock back. Vocally and instrumentally “Watercourse” goes for it like a young U2. But the (red)onkulously overwrought lyrics leave something to be desired. A Frampton talking guitarific “Within Hours”, the modern day “Tie A Yellow Ribbon 'Round The Ole Oak Tree” (“Battlewon”), and “Beach” - Tim Derricourt’s yacht rock falsetto says, ‘Saaailing takes me away…’ - maybe that stuff should stay in the 70’s.
Dangerbird signed Dappled Cities after witnessing them at SXSW ’06. Rennick’s L.L. Bean Norwegian pullover sealed the deal. Produced by Jim Fairchild and Peter Walker, the two’s winsome ways are all over Granddance, a post-grunge, post-90’s alt. rock follow-up to their 2004 Pavement-influenced debut album A Smile.
The Derricourt vs Rennick I’m prettier, no I’m prettier smackdown comes to a head between “Work It Out” and “Fire Fire Fire”. In Derricourt’s summer hit “Work It Out” an early 90’s anglophile’s strum of a guitar Morrissey-like crooning reins supreme. While Rennick’s torchy recitative “Fire Fire Fire” is a classically structured, reverberating indie pop song. We all win really. |