DUMB – club nites (CD, LP Vinyl)

Dumb are good at plenty of things, but relaxing isn't one of them. The Vancouver four-piece write feverish tunes at a frantic pace, delivering catchy post-punk songs in two-minute blasts of wiry riffs and indignant social critiques. As the title indicates, Club Nites is a collection of narratives drawn from the nightlife ecosystem. Attempting to break from the typical romanticized version of "the club" as seen on TV, the album instead depicts a bleak social setting, where we zoom in on seemingly petty details in order to reveal the cracks that Hollywood forgot to fill. The LP has the energy of a raw nerve. Packing 14 tracks into a little more than half an hour, Dumb are unfailingly economical, with no-nonsense song structures that last just long enough to get stuck in your head. Club Nites is a whirlwind of seemingly insoluble influences battling one another into existence. Singer-guitarist Franco Rossino's vocal stylings are instantly captivating, ranging from spoken-word rambling, to Fugazi-esque chants, to what it might sound like if Mark E Smith had fronted The Zombies. Guitarist Nick Short creates intricate layers of guitar that range from austere rock riffs to timeless pop progressions, with a healthy dose of feedback to tie it all together. Bassist Shelby Vredik combines melodic bass lines with a powerful rhythmic precision that complements drummer Pip Morelli's meticulous, pummeling beats. Dumb belongs to a lineage of jagged post-punk that runs from Minutemen to Pylon to Parquet Courts, yet the band remains loyal to their pop sensibilities. *Mint