Dolorosa

Meddle Records

For the most part, this lazy slacker drone by way of My Bloody Valentine is best experienced alone and loudly. Produced by Keith Cleversley (Spiritualized, Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev), the debut is thick with the distorted grind-ola that you might expect from New York or England, but hardly from Nashville, where Duraluxe calls home. The 4-piece includes guitarist Chris Colbert, who helped produce and engineer the likes of Mineral, Pave The Rocket, Adolescents and Morella's Forest. Nestled among the fine drone thought-pieces are well-produced, catchy nuggets, such as the straight-on pop of "Change Your Mind," the Smashing Pumpkins-like "Lowly Creatures," and the Yo La Tengo by way of Love & Rockets "In time." It's the tonal, slow numbers that border on shoe-gazer fodder you'll remember. Much shimmering guitar and fuzzy vocals, strolling along like a sleepwalker climbing a steep freeway. Tracks like "Wish List," "Don't Hesitate" and CD-closer "Seeing Me" are about creating an atmosphere in a Red House Painters/Radiohead sorta way. Who knows what vocalist Troy Daugherty is singing about? The styles give Dolorosa a slightly schizoid feel - most who like the pop won't care for the drone and vice versa. Call me schizo, bit I like them both.

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Copyright © 1999 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.

Rating: Yes