Missiles
Composer: The Dears
Label: Dangerbird Records
Release Date: 2008-10-29
Rated: NONE
Genre: Recording
Fair warning to the uninitiated: The Dears don’t do radio singles. Only one song in 10 clocks in at less than four minutes, but with Missiles, patience is a virtue. Those weaned on sugar-candy power-pop singles probably won’t get it. The Dears are the chocolate mousse of alt acts: rich, thick, and for those with advanced musical palettes.
This collective is one of the many bad-ass bands based out of Montreal, Quebec, made unique by beautifully voiced frontman Murray Lightburn, who adds soul to his Damon Albarn-like (Gorillaz, Blur) delivery. The group makes melodies that build slowly with repeated lyrics and layered instruments crescendoing to an eventual, cacophonous rapture.
Brit-rock influences shine throughout. Opener “Disclaimer” mirrors the brightness of Manchester’s Doves. “Lights Off” shares — maybe even steals — the dramatic dissonance of Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android.” Some songs drone on too long and miss the mark, but when they hit, Missiles is pure, refined magic.
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2008.