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| (Art by Marcus Durant, assisted by Jeff Prybolsky; Type by Disappearing Inc.) |
Dandelion revel in junk culture; they are connoisseurs of the low brow-and it's a lot of fun! If I was a Jeff Koons fan, maybe I would mine his artist statements for some banter to use here....but I'll just stick to the basics. From having a video featured on Beavis and Butthead (the two idiot savants provided commentary on the 1993 video for "Under My Skin"), to the B-movie poster-esque (or maybe pulp novel-esque?) album cover, to the sampled toy laughter at the end of "Super Cool", there's a lot to love about these guys. Have a look at the packaging/ presentation (images below). The art department nailed this one: polka dots and pink on the disc, comic book clippings (including a motorcycle rider-maybe a nod to the track "Viva Kneval"?), a cinematic-looking still of a dude shooting lasers out of his eyeballs...it's a pop-culture hodgepodge; a giddy assemblage of low-pop ephemera (and that's Dandelion to a T!) Musically, start with Nirvana and Mudhoney, add a bit of The Sonics, The Troggs, and a big dollop of The Ohio Express (circa "Quick Joey Small") and throw it in a blender on "pulse" and you might get close. For Exhibit A check out "Pass The Stone" (link below).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUv3xboIcCA
What should one expect when listening to Dyslexicon? It's like walking into a grunge candy shop: it's colourful and exciting, packed with sweets, and there's a bit of bubblegum...but the cleaners only come like once a year, so the floors are grimy and gross, and the clerks are all a bit surly.
Listen to "Weird-Out" (link below), which made it to #14 on the U.S. Modern Rock charts. Certainly vocalist Kevin Morpurgo wears his Cobain-isms on his sleeve...but why not? The important thing here is that Dandelion understand that to really emulate Nirvana you need more than long hair, Fender guitars, and songs that start quiet and then get louder. You need HOOKS and SONGCRAFT and CHARM. Dyslexicon has all three.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1jSrSz4wd4
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