Dot Dash are about to go into the studio to record album number 4 with Mitch Easter -- yes indeed, Mitch Easter! -- but they took time out of their busy schedules to lay down a full half-hour of mainly new tracks.
I got there a few minutes late but I think I only missed one song at most.
Here's the playlist but things changed mid-show and two classic songs -- "The Color and the Sound" from 2011's Spark>Flame>Ember>Ash and "Bloom/Decay" from the downright superb Half-Remembered Dream, both available on TheBeautifulMusic.com -- were introduced into the set.
I can say that there's one new cut that just blew me away...despite the fact that I'm not quite sure what the title was/will be. The cut opens with slashing guitars from both Steve Hansgen (ex-Minor Threat) and Terry Banks that sounded like Swervedriver, a band that drummer Danny Ingram was in for a spell. The other new songs were punchy and punk-y but still enormously tuneful. Dot Dash lose nothing with volume. With Hunter Bennett doing his best Simonon on bass, the other cats are channeling the Buzzcocks. Now that might sound like a mis-match but it works beautifully, especially in a live setting. This is loud postpunk of the very best kind.
I cannot wait to see what Mitch Easter does with these guys. The results will be great, I'm sure, if his recent work with Mary Timony's Ex Hex is any indication -- and that's to say nothing of his past production wizardry.
Go to the WMUC website and then make your way to this page to find the link for Sunday's Third Rail Radio show on MP3. Dot Dash go on at about the 1:26:10 mark on the podcast.
Buy Dot Dash CDs via TheBeautifulMusic.com.
Follow Dot Dash on their official Facebook page.
