Dappled Cities
Zounds
(Speak N Spell)
Trying to dissect Dappled Cities is a bit like trying to pin down a mirage. On the one hand, the Sydney band has some very identifiable characteristics: Flaming Lips-worthy psychedelia, ’80s-style synth-pop, and chipper post/disco-punk (cue the hi-hats). On the other hands, no one else really sounds like them, and their albums are so soupy with effects that it’s easy to get lost in the mirror maze of it all. Following 2006’s sophomore effort, Granddance, which saw the five-piece focus more on a shot at success in the States, the long-gestating Zounds is similarly likeable yet unwieldy.
Perhaps the best guide through the album’s twists and turns is new recruit Allan Kumpulainen (replacing exiting founding member Hugh Boyce), whose shifty, streaming drum work commands as much attention as the helium vocals and cosmic synths once you hone in on it. In fact, his twitchy presence is one of the first things we hear on Zounds as it weaves beneath opener ‘Hold Your Back’. The song builds from there with Alex Moore’s bass, Ned Cooke’s keys, and the pillow-y voices of guitarist Tim Derricourt and guitarist/keyboardist Dave Rennick. It also establishes a loose pattern for the rest of the record; sparkling effects, ’80s tinges to the guitar and bass lines, and vocals that swing between smarmy and dramatic, depending on who’s singing.
Upbeat and even danceable, ‘The Price’ is an obvious choice for the first single, although the earlier track ‘Answer Is Zero’ has the album’s catchiest refrain with the gently cooed line “Measure my distance from the sun.” ‘Wooden Ships’ and ‘Miniature Atlas’ are also punchier than expected, while the centrepiece ‘The Night Is Young At Heart’ lingers nicely. Competing with the drums for secret-weapon status on the album are the vocal harmonies that surface on nearly every track. They prove most effective on ‘Kid’ and on the twangy, insistent ‘Stepshadows’, which caps things on a definite up note.
Zounds didn’t have the easiest birth. Firstly, Dappled Cities struggled with the album’s American co-producer, Chris Coady, who has worked with TV On The Radio and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Then two other producers were enlisted to mix some of the songs. But with the band signed to the L.A. indie label Dangerbird (home to Silversun Pickups and Sea Wolf) in the States and receiving advice from A&R guru and pro bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen, there could be a significant breakthrough following this album. The band certainly deserves it, mining a unique sound since their inception in 1997.
Even if worldwide success doesn’t come, Dappled Cities will be just fine. They’re beloved here in Australia, and with their Disney-stamped children’s show Alphabreaks putting them in front of impressionable toddlers, the band could widen its influence to include entire an new generations of devoted - and equally doe-eyed - fans.
Doug Wallen