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The Dears
Whites Only Party +2 EP
Bella Union - 2006
Michael Panontin
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The first single release from Gang of Losers, the Dears long-awaited follow-up to their crucial No Cities Left disc, is a rollicking Smiths clone girded with a quasi-rockabilly beat and, of course, singer Murray Lightburn's mopey vocal. 'Above a Lake of Fire', the non-LP b-side, is the standout here, though - a cauldron of frustration that channels lament into a profoundly catchy and uplifting refrain of "I'm gonna be taking some chances, even if it should burn me in ashes," before culminating in Lightburn's by-now familiar apoplectic caterwauls of "...EVEN IF IT KILLS ME!" Powerfully moving and brilliant! The closer is a sparser, acoustic take on 'Summer of Protest', where the Joy Division schtick is mercifully jettisoned, letting the track breathe with pointed anger rather than seethe with misdirected rage.
A near-perfect eleven and a half minutes, and a testament to the EP as the perfect pop vehicle.
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The Dears
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