Smith Westerns / Dye It Blonde / Fat Possum Records
Overlook the faux Brit rock mops, and it’s obvious: Smith Westerns are hiding something special. Not Garageband tricks, but a secretive psychedelia revolution featuring an eternal war between MGMT converters and T. Rex followers. Dye It Blonde seems cut from Marc Bolan’s skin, what with Cullen Omori cast as a mistreated poet with his undying devotion to girls, yet it’s not. Even with help from producer Chris Coady, the record lacks original substance, imitating music idols before drowning garage rock jams in a bathtub of fuzz.
A teenager oblivious to judgement, it smokes the occassional Marlboro (“Imagine Pt. 3, “Dye The World”) and uses Axe hair gel (“Weekend”). Such aspirations to be original can be forgiving, Smith Westerns just haven’t discovered that, or themselves yet. “Dance Away” wraps you up in a skateboard daze, hits a sensational melody and then watches its legs buckle as the tempo changes. The immaturity doesn’t wait it’s turn to speak, but when it does, the glimpse of electrifying indie rock (see “End Of The Night”) stimulates.
Download: “Still New”
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Waaaay too many metaphors, wtf is a skateboard daze?
I actually liked this review, a lot better than others out there. I think what he’s trying to say Paz is it’s music for skateboarding. Bit descriptive, but i like it.