Dials – ‘Dials’ [Review]
Opinion
Since Paris, nothing has been quite the same. Despite my silence here, the last few weeks have been extremely productive – the novel project that originated with this post has occupied almost every spare moment I’ve had (bar a visit to the Boileroom to check out the excellent Wilde Eyes supporting The Computers) and as a result I’ve been neglecting The Musical Melting Pot a little bit. Hopefully those of you who enjoyed those fiction-flavoured posts will forgive me for this. For the rest of you, let me introduce you to an EP by one of Guildford’s hardest-working bands: the most excellent Dials.
Dials have already earned their fair share of attention within The Musical Melting Pot, having put out a very cool track (Exodus (Miracle)) and hosted a thrilling launch party at the Boileroom for this eponymous EP. As its monicker suggests, this EP represents a definitive distillation of Dial’s inspirational essence; as their Facebook page presently states, this is good honest rock music with few frilly bits to distract from a deliberately straight-ahead mission statement. All six tracks sound as if they were marinated in liquidized vinyl mixed with a few gallons of Jack Daniel’s, surging into the ears to drown the brain in raw songwriting brilliance.
While the songs themselves are very well crafted, and Dials are clearly becoming a tight-knit and professionally experienced outfit, the production proved a tad too gritty for my tastes at times. While this is obviously a deliberate choice, and has given Dials a touch of human warmth in this instance, it would be very cool to hear their next offerings given just a little extra studio polish. This is a band that mainstream radio are going to love, but as we all know mainstream radio is most readily given to showcasing super-polished tracks – and so for Dials, that extra bit of metaphorical Mr. Sheen could well prove a dealmaker.
Overall, however, this is an excellent EP that perfectly fits Dials’ current place in the UK alt-rock scene. Keep an eye out for these guys in 2014; next year is looking to be pretty special.
Links
Listen to & buy Dials here: http://dialsofficial.bandcamp.com/album/dials-3
Dials on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dialsofficial
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