Dom - Sun Bronzed GreekGods

Mon 30th May, 2011 in Music Reviews

Sun Bronzed Greek Gods is the debut EP from somewhat mysterious Massachusetts newcomers Dom. Released in the US a year ago but only brought out in Australia through Modular in recent weeks (albeit in remastered, and consequentially slightly less fuzzy, form), this is a delightful collection of euphoric pop songs tinged with surf, krautrock, dance and indie inflections and packaged with a breezy, carefree lo-fi aesthetic.

Opener Jesus is an infectious, drug-tinged ode to blissful hedonism, stylistically combining garage rock and surf pop to create a fantastic result. Featuring retro organs hidden low in the mix and reverb laden vocal harmonies, this is a perfect soundtrack for a spaced-out summer on the beach. The gaudy synth-glam bounce of Living In America masks a subtle yet scathing criticism of western superficiality and celebrity-worshipping culture. With sing-along hooks and a massive keyboard-driven chorus, it straddles the paradoxical line between a well-constructed bedroom jam and an anthemic stadium pop song. Rude As Jude is flavoured with ever-so-slightly melancholic undertones by Dom’s standards, but anywhere else this would be a joyous summer pop song. A great surf guitar riff pops up here, resembling a more uptempo version of the material on Surf City’s excellent 2010 record Kudos or a thicker sounding take on Pixies classic Here Comes Your Man.

Bochicha is a rollicking garage-rock track, with vocals drenched in cavernous reverb. Once again Dom recall Pixies’ surfier moments, and Bochicha is one of those songs where it is nearly impossible not to at least tap your feet or nod your head in time. Burn Bridges is undoubtedly the EP’s standout track, the oriental melodies of its continuous pipe section recalling Siouxsie and the Banshees’ Hong Kong Garden. The sentiment of “Burn bridges/Make yourself an island/Just forgive ‘em/And forget ‘em” is a simple yet empowering one, and the end product is a truly great pop song; perhaps one of the better tracks released in the past 12 months. More well constructed pop follows, this time in the form of Hunny, featuring shimmering, jangly guitar work and melodic vocal hooks. This is another brilliant slice of jangle-pop, and the way Dom deploy thick sheets of sound to create an ethereal, ambient soundscape beneath what is effectively a straight-up pop song suggests they could easily excel at shoegaze or dream-pop styles. Closer I Wonder is the album’s most melancholic moment, and sees the band take on a somewhat reflective tone, particularly in comparison to the upbeat, feel-good atmosphere of the rest of the EP. But even at their most wistful, Dom retain excellent melodic sensibilities and I Wonder, though verging on balladry, is yet another of those catchy pop pieces.

Sun Bronzed Greek Gods is blissfully and effortlessly catchy throughout. In essence Dom are merely another new band making inoffensive pop, but every song here is undeniably enjoyable. Only one track here exceeds three minutes (and only just) and Dom don’t try anything out of the ordinary, but the familiarity of their sound merely enhances the listener enjoyment aspect. An undercurrent of nostalgia runs through Dom’s music, echoing the reflections on the notion of a serene, Eden-like paradise frequently delivered by artists involved in the recent chillwave movement. These songs are permeated by a red cordial-induced euphoria (or more likely something stronger), but somehow we get the sense that Dom are living firmly in the present – there is a very real and grounded feel to these songs, and it is this, the very antithesis of the element higher-than-the-stars ecstasy, that endears Sun Bronzed Greek Gods to the listener so much. Dom have a keen ear for melody and a great knack of writing pop songs, and this is a case where experimentation would be pointless – why change what you’re doing when the results are so good?