DOLOUR “Suburbiac”
I’m in an airplane – it’s snowing like crazy outside, and we’re about to land. I can’t see anything out the window but white, yet I’m amazingly calm, still singing along to DOLOUR in all of its lounge-pop goodness. This eleven song debut disc is buckets-o-fun, in the sly, coy, BILLY JOEL meets BEN FOLDS kinda way. Normally, I’m not into music that relies on faint electronic dance beats to propel the piano rock, but “Suburbiac” is a disc that embraces that element well, surely treating it as a sub-relevant to the exceptional lead vocals. Although some of the mellow songs evoke images of the local-suck-up at the coffee house around the corner, for the most part, DOLOUR is peppy and smooth in talking to your heart. Strong, filling production allow this release to go down easy, reminding me of the last STEREO disc. While there’s no dip in quality for all fourty minutes, the third track, “So Done With You,” is the obvious lyrical/hook standout, and it’s got “radio-friendly” written all over it. When those hardcore cds feel heavy handed, DOLOUR is an excellent reprise.
Fugitive Records
