Dot Dash (Spark > Flame > Ember > Ash)

I started this blog to share mostly old records, not to review new material; so please don't view this as a green light to bombard me with emails, asking me to review your bands release. It's nothing personal, I'm sure your band is great, and I'm honored you think enough of this site to ask; but it's just not a direction I wish this site to head in. With that said, I have a couple of newer records that I promised to review; and then after that I think I'm going to stick to, for the most part, pre 1990's, unless it's something that really strikes me.


I noticed the great Wilfully Obscure blog, articulately reviewed this the other day; which makes this post a bit redundant, but I like the disc, Dot Dash seem like nice guys, and I already said I would review it, so here it goes.

Dot Dash are a Washington D.C. four piece who's influences are bands like: The Jam, Joy Division, and The Byrds. Musically one might expect this, to have a Wire influence; but other than its clean minimalist production, and upfront vocals, similarities pretty much end there . To my ears, this disc has a moody Indy feel to it; with a hint of British Pop Sense sprinkled in. Singer/Guitarist, Terry Banks, formerly of bands such as: Julie Ocean, The Saturday People, Tree Fort Angst, Glo-Worm, and St. Christopher, reminds me at times of Robert Smith, from The Cure. Other members include: Hunter Bennett - Bass, also from Julie Ocean, Bill Crandall - Guitar, from Modest Proposal, and Danny Ingram - Drums, previously of bands such as: Swervedriver, Strange Boutique, and Youth Brigade, who (in my opinion) released one of the most brutal, blistering Hardcore/Punk records ever. Overall this is a solid debut effort, with some nice Guitar work. Spark > Flame > Ember > Ash, offers some well crafted Pop melodies; along with a few darker tracks to keep things interesting. I picked three songs for preview; if you like what you hear, you can pick the disc up from the Canadian Label, Beautiful Music. It's also available for download from Itunes, and they Have a Facebook page. If you would like to check out Dot Dash live; their next outing will be at The Black Cat, along with The Chameleons, Nov. 28th in DC.

***DOWNLOAD***