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DIVISION OF LAURA LEE
Das Not Compute (Epitaph)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson
Two years ago, this Swedish quartet put out Black City, an album that grabbed me so hard the first time I heard it I immediately added it to my list for top five of the year consideration, and when it came time to make those selections Black City ended up my number one pick of the year. I would have named it my number one pick the following year, as well, if the question was "what is your favorite album at year's end?" Can you imagine how good the follow up would have to be for me to be anything but disappointed?
When Das Not Compute first hit my speakers, I was listening for the immediate hooks of Black City, and I was indeed disappointed. I couldn't hear the hooks. It took a few listens to realize Das Not Compute is an entirely different animal. The hooks are most certainly there, just in a much different form than those of Black City. The difference? Maturity. The band gelled as a unit and discovered something they didn't really have before: the ability to create beautiful melodies. Thank God they don't stop there. They know how to dress those melodies in powerful sounds and unexpected quirks to keep you guessing, and the payoff is rich. "Breathe Breathe" is the perfect example of this." Downtempo yet driving, the musical bed is made of a solid bass/drum beat, a spacey dual guitar wash of distortion and phasing, and somewhere in the distance a gently plinking piano playing high, dainty notes. It's a beautiful and powerful combination. On other tunes, DOLL improve on their trademark sound, which can best be described as majestic while still managing to exhude punkish contempt for nearly everything.
The album is loaded with great songs by guitarist Per Stalberg and bassist Jonas Gustavsson, who again split lead vocal duties, and it's a fair argument that the best of these songs are as good as anything on Black City. If you're looking to rank the two albums, however, Das Not Compute will probably take second place due to the inclusion of just a few tunes that could be considered filler, whereas Black City was all choice meat. Does this matter? No, what would matter would be if this album sucked, because that would show they had gone the way of most bands with a phenomenal first album. Such is not the case. Thankfully, DOLL look to be a band with a deep reservoir. Division of Laura Lee have the difficult burden of trying to please a lot of people who expect nothing short of magic from this album. Me? Well, it took a few listens, but it's now on my list for Top Five of the Year consideration.
© 2004 - DJ Johnson