Emerging from the ashes of Misconduct and Belltown, ‘The Wonderland Dementation Dept‘ (Seriously…) are kind of a downmarket Fugazi, or upmarket Kinison depending on how you look at it. On the one hand, you have energy passion and drive, but on the other you have an erring sense of desperation that never seems to disappear throughout the course of the three tracks. And while they may have more sweat and grunt than a lot of bands out there, it never quite comes across as working as well as they think it does.
Opener ‘Hypnosis’ is a rousing and infectious start as the pace builds through a frenzy of layered drumming with the vocals of Daniel doing wonders in helping create a superb punk atmosphere around the track, which makes it clear why it was chosen as a single. ‘My Fate, My Burden’ doesn’t quite hit the heady heights of its predecessor and suffers from lacking any real initiative or ideas and the first impressions you received from the opener are quickly gone as lacklustre melodies and sparse song structure dominate. ‘June 16th’ steers things back in the right direction with a superb opening gambit setting the tone for the track and although it proves hit and miss, it is a nice end to the package they have put together. While ‘TWDD’ will do nothing to make you jump out of your seat, they do just enough to hold your attention for longer than the allotted CD time, which is a gift that many bands struggle to achieve in the 21st century.
Jay
www.dementation.com
Mind Riot Records