Dreams of Dynamite and Divinity,
DeckardI find it genuinely insulting when press releases hype up bands as being epoch-making and world-shattering when they end up being just another dull pop rock band. Is the human mind so weak as to actually need anodyne tripe such as this in order to function properly? It’s not that Deckard are a necessarily bad band, it’s just that ‘Dreams of Dynamite and Divinity’ is so decidedly average that I struggle to see how or indeed why anyone could see them as an antidote to the current supposed sterility of the music scene.
Of course, Deckard are by no means in the same league of shite as Taking Back Sunday, and there are some inoffensive moments spattered liberally throughout the album. The main lyric to ‘To Your Soul’ is quite hummable before it’s repeated fifteen dozen times, and ‘Be Nobody Else’ sounds as if it could be a moodily atmospheric ballad before disintegrating into a predictable exercise in the mundane use of a bass guitar. I’m sure there are further examples of how Deckard use their obvious talents in an innovative and exciting way, but frankly ‘Dreams of Dynamite and Divinity’ is so bland that my ears have become attuned to the dull and boring.
The annoying stomp of ‘We’re Aching’ is compounded by the unoriginal and uninventive guitar work that seems content with dancing around familiar themes and melodies, and ‘Wired For This’s attempt at creating a heavier, larger sound, while impressive in intention, comes off as being the second thought of a songwriter. It could have been a truly energetic and epic-sounding song but the whining vocal swallows up all the initial promise of the swirling guitar and leaves the song a muddled mess.
To tell the truth I’m not adverse to some poppy rock, since if it’s sufficiently inventive and interesting then I’m fully open to it – the9ine’s latest album ‘Somnamballistics’ is a prime example of how to do it well. But the problem with Deckard’s offering is that it lacks almost any discerning features to distinguish it from the chart fodder it’s trying to combat. It’s a shame because there are a few moments that suggest Deckard could make their sound into something special, but they’re not sustained throughout ‘Dreams…’, leaving the end product bland and lifeless.
Ben
www.deckard.info
