#jangle punk

Listen, for instance, to how “Sweetest Reminder” rolls, a thicket of emphatic guitar licks leading into the lingering lyricism of the chorus, serpentine melody ending in brash shouts of “ha! ha! ha! ha!” Or consider the instrumental “Mist” thumping and crashing, sure, but also stretching out towards a surfy horizon, the Thermals gone kraut-rock-y.

“Hammer” is a standout, with its snaking, slurring, slacked out tunefulness, battering drums and Exploding Hearts-style guitar romanticism. But “Bubbles” is just about as good, coming in emphatically on windmill chords and scrambling drum fills, and riding the rollercoaster in a vertiginous coda. A noise of bubbles popping lends a giddy optimism, but there’s wistfulness in the way the vocals stretch out.

These songs are instrumentally taut and disciplined.  You could bounce a quarter off the beat in “Apples.”  But the singing drifts and elongates, extending a woozy, blurry welcome.  The song knocks you silly then kisses it better, wearing a goofy grin the whole time.

Dumbells’ record is such an enjoyable listen that you start to think that the egg-punk/chain-punk wars maybe divided us unnecessarily, that bands can thrive in either mode and even in the places where they intersect. Dumbells are definitely worth staying up late for.