- Genre: 'Rock'
- Release Date: '29th November 2019'
Our Rating:
The CD’s cover features a rasterised photo of an earnest-looking bearded guy who’s got possible punk leanings… but wait, that’s not an acoustic guitar in his grasp: it’s a ukulele. The band’s name is buried on the guy’s jacket, and it’s not clear if he’s a member of the Edinburgh five-piece, who cite Pink Floyd, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Led Zeppelin, Hadouken, Nirvana, and prince in their wide-ranging influences, but it probably doesn’t really matter. What matters is the fucking ukulele. I mean, why?
There’s no uke on any of the four tracks on this, but there is a lot of bouncy, buoyant alt-rock / pop. After the driving but clean and easy ‘Tight Jeans’, ‘Dirt’ incorporates – none too subtly – elements of dance with some bubbling 90s dancefloor synths over which vocalist John Keenan goes gritty and soulful.
It should be a fucking disaster, but there’s something life-affirming and endearing about their style. ‘Howl’ is kinda 80s retro, kinda classic, kinda Kerrang! Radio friendly, and in the way that Mansun and The Cooper temple Clause mashed up so much stuff, some of which shouldn’t have worked, but succeeded because of a clear talent for making songs gel, so DMS (that’s Deaf Mute Society) have an almost inexplicable appeal.
There’s an offbeat gothiness about the verses of the last track ‘Vain’, which packs a monster chorus, and pah, fuck it. No justification required: I’m loving this, because it’s audacious and it’s ace.
