DM3
Rippled Soul
Citadel
DM3 – Aussie for “power pop”, delivers more energetic rocking moments on their third release, Rippled Soul . Sounding at times like a down-under version of Material Issue, Dom Mariani and crew have an almost assembly-line approach to songwriting: Crunchy guitars playing a catchy riff, great harmonies and hooks enough to snag air itself. In lesser hands, this would start to get “samey,” but here, it mostly all works, partly because of little touches like a Farfisa organ on “Last to Know,” or the occasional electric sitar. The production help of Mitch Easter on three cuts doesn’t hurt, either. The band excels when it stays in pop territory – excursions into more guitar-focused “heavy” cuts sound dangerously like mid-‘80s American hair bands such as Damn Yankees or Night Ranger, but thankfully even cuts such as that (“Lure,” the first single, or “Anyway That You Like”) have enough pop sense to save themselves. On such cuts as “Augustine” or “Everything That You Told Me,” the band succeeds at all levels, and make a strong case for a trip down under. From Australia’s Citadel Records, home to those little pop/punk pranksters, Radio Birdman.
Citadel Records, P.O Box 316, Darlinghurst, Australia NSW 2010
