The Damnwells - No One Listens to the Band Anymore
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 at 4:08PM
Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Alex Dezen, one-man mainstay and creative force behind The Damnwells, has seen backing bandmembers and record deals come and go over the past decade, even to the point of being the subject of the indie film Golden Days documenting his endless travails with former label Epic. Now independent and with bassist Ted Hudson and a bevy of musicians backing him up, Dezen follows up '09's "free-on-demand" One Last Century with the new, fan-funded album No One Listens to the Band Anymore due March 15. While there is no shortage of alternative indie-pop bands possessing mile-wide streaks of sweet melodic pop/rock, no outfit in recent memory comes as close to the exquisite marriage of lush, hummable hooks and jangling instrumentation (epitomized by U.K. standard bearers Del Amitri) than Dezen's Damnwells.
"Werewolves", a gem of glistening melodious splendor and DC Daily Track feature in January, is the perfect jumping off point for the essence of No One Listens as Dezen's husky vocals and backing harmonies bob along on a swell of densely layered, strummed guitar riffs. "The Great Unknown" ratchets up the acoustic ambience with strings, piano and a ticking beat wrapping a warm folk/pop blanket around the song's lovely melodic lines. This isn't edgy music to provoke or rattle with dissonance. The Damnwells are about classic hooks and a retro feel, a finely tailored and timeless throwback to big, sharp hooks and choruses that embed themselves deeply and easily in the gray matter.
The Damnwells - "The Great Unknown" (from No One Listens to the Band Anymore)
The Damnwells - "Werewolves" (from the album No One Listens to the Band Anymore)
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