Album Review: Dumb – Club Nites
Best Tracks: Club Nites, Cursed, My Condolences, Columbo
FCC Violations: Beef Hits, Some Big Motor Dream
This is probably the most indy album I’ve ever heard in my life! Insert “LOL” anywhere you’d like and I don’t mean that in a bad way. Filled with underground angst and shenanigans intertwined with a few unknown characters that are roasted through a narration-style of vocals, Club Nites is out there in the stratosphere somewhere but I can be sure of one thing: I’ve never heard anything like this before. It’s aggressive, out of the box, covered in a blanket of punk rock, and pulls you in with its weirdness and colorful textures.
‘Club Nites’ – it’s that title track heavy-hitter that starts off the record while basically showing you what to expect in its entirety with short songs just over the two minute mark, in-your-face belligerence while holding the title of definitely not being the music your parents… well, probably grandparents listened to. Yeah, I’m just old enough to have a teenager. Where has the time gone!
Anyways, back to the intro-track. Midway through, the lines “I got punched out dissing whining trading favors for regrets/I get it you’re an artist yeah you’ve got so much to say,” has that airy pretentiousness with a hint of hypocrisy and elitism but maybe that’s what Dumb is going for here: being hipster within the hipster realm and as such, trashing out your own social community in a satirical way. I dig it and if this sample of sound was regurgitated into television, it would be a Netflix original series comedy. Maybe baby Franco could reprise his high schooler counterculture role from 21 Jump Street as a spin-off series.
The bass tracks are superb, especially in ‘Cursed’ and ‘My Condolences’ where the bass keeps a clean ride while holding the fort down so the other instrumentation can glide effortlessly in the chaos. Shelby Vredik is a talented bassist for sure. I mean, you’d have to be to keep the foundation strong in a band that excels in organized mayhem.
There’s even a cowbell! Used in ‘Some Big Motorcity Dream’ as an eight-count in the intro, it kicks in with the gritty, paving the way to an abruptly placed pre chorus with Vredik’s vocal harmony and upstroke guitar chords.
Oh, I forgot, De Mas is sung entirely in Spanish which is just another reason to take this band at more than just its name and musical ambiance. This track is a fun one with fantastic drumming and by gosh a breakdown? Yep, that’s what ended the song, lasting no more than 8 seconds.
Somehow, everything works here for the Canadian four-piece who seem to be experts at blending noise effectively to give the listener a rollercoaster of a ride. It should be known, the band made some noise while playing on the Vancouver independent music scene from 2015 to 2016, releasing three EPs and two albums in that small timeframe. Dumb is a workhorse that more than deserves a look see.
– Justin Capoccia