James Arden checks out the garage rockers latest album.
The Christian rock band from Brighton bring religion to the masses.
Recipe for modern R'n'B album: liberal helpings of guest rappers and an overdose of sexual euphemisms.
Dananananaykroyd. Dana..nana..nayk..royd. It’s easy enough to say once you get the rhythm down. Unfortunately, not so easy to listen to. The self-proclaimed “Fight Pop” band from Glasgow provide a blur of shout-singing in which every song sounds far too similar, and the pitch of faux-angry screaming becomes more than a little grating. On record, their sound is more distinct, more meaningful and frankly more enjoyable.
What’s so frustrating is that there are hints of what they could have become if they focussed more on diction and tuning and slightly less on encouraging the crowd to partake in a “wall of cuddles” (in case you were wondering, it’s their version of a wall of death, except with a sort of hug-moshing). Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a bit of a messier sound onstage, and I wholly applaud their efforts to do interesting and original things, but when such interesting and thought-provoking lyrics as “You saw the jaws rattle in a vacuum, You saw the smiles stamped on, You saw them hold you up like a prize in the throbbing glass of the body” become rolled into one, the effect falls somewhat by the wayside.
Nonetheless, Dana’s (we’ll call them that, add on the rest of the nanas in your own time) fans seemed to be having an absolute whale of a time. And this is most probably because of the immense and undeniable energy that the band brought to the stage. If dynamism and enthusiasm was more important than the music quality, I would most definitely be giving them a rave review. Dana performed with such gusto, forcing the crowd to part so they could jump off stage, regularly hugging each other, and generally acting like five year olds on red bull. They also, for what it’s worth, seemed like genuinely nice people; “If you guys are gonna jump around like that can you make sure you don’t hurt anyone”.
Unfortunately, despite how much I’m sure the band care deeply about my constructive criticism, they will never have a chance to tighten things up. This was their 2nd last gig ever, as they’re splitting up after this tour. “Why are you leaving?!” shouts one heartbroken member of the crowd, “Because of you. You in particular” is the response. Whatever the reason, and however disappointing the musical quality may have been, the band can say their farewells with one thing that’s absolutely certain: they were never dull .
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