Review Summary: Pop on poprocks that rocks. Got it? Good.
There’s something about youthful musicians and the level of spirit put into their art. There’s no quest to one-up their last Grammy-nominated platinum seller, or sell out that next arena date, or even score 7.5 or higher from Pitchfork – when you’re young, you’re making music purely on the pleasure basis. It’s always such a pleasure to experience music that isn’t preoccupied with greater objectives at hand – the “fun” albums. Josie DeSousa-Ray and Charlie Thorpe, known better as the duo Dash & Will, have nothing to prove to anyone. They’re just two young, charming women who like playing guitar, dressing up and singing three-minute pop songs that couldn’t give two shakes of a dog’s leg if they were disposable or not. It’s predominantly this that makes their debut,
Up in Something, such an enjoyable release. A long time coming release for the twosome – some of the songs were written in their early teens – the album’s heart easily makes up for any shortcomings.
Moving at a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it pace,
Up in Something snaps from song to song in a breathless style. Everything is hook-driven and to the point, regardless of tempo, as the girls chirpily vocalise mission statements such as “Get it together!”, “Don’t believe what they say!” and “We like to get out of control”. It’s very simplistic and hardly core-cutting or original, certainly – even in terms of pop. But once you’re sucked into those well-placed and very easily memorable choruses, you’ll most likely be too busy dancing away to care. DeSousa-Ray and Thorpe are also seemingly disinterested in having the music of Dash & Will pinned down to a singular sound, throwing a multitude of darts to the board with a few bullseyes in the process. Try out the slick electro-pop cut “Out of Control” on for size, with its chugging guitar line and spiralling synthesizer pushing the track to its full potential. Perhaps the twangy bop of “Error Error” will be more to your liking, which rollicks along on a swinging groove backed by acoustic sway and versatile drum work. Even the little-girl-lost numbers like the vulnerable “Painful” and the helpless-romantic “Save Me” capture both your attention and imagination over repeated listens – something the record will seduce you into gradually.
Given, credit where credit’s due for Dash & Will. Even with this in consideration, however, the album manages to accumulate its fair share of flaws, in spite of its sincerity and its catchiness. For one thing, too many elements of the music itself resides in limbo, from the vocals and harmonies to the guitar and drums. Nothing on offer is “bad”, by any stretch of the imagination. Still, precious little manages to edge itself further across the line of “good” into “outstanding” or “excellent” just yet. The forays into different styles are commendable, but not always wise moves – “Didn’t Know” and the title track struggle to remove themselves from the middle of the road. Let’s not condemn the ladies to failure just yet, however. What needs to be emphasised here is what works, as opposed to what doesn’t.
Up in Something is not your little sister’s new favourite album by her new favourite band. However, with some flash hooks, a couple of killer tunes and a mass of future potential under their wings, expect to see them added to her iPod, at the very least.
