More cornerboys! Brooklyn’s five-minus-onesome Dirty on Purpose bring you a full-length, on the heels of their “Sleep Late For a Better Tomorrow” EP. “Hallelujah Sirens†is a great collection of sonic pop and indie rock. The opener, “No Radio,†sounds like a Bruce Springsteen song at first, until vocalist (and keyboardist) Erika Forster starts singing in her voice made for alternative radio stardom. In fact, with all the other stuff going on you don’t notice the amazing drumming until the song hits the halfway mark. And after that rocking beginning, they slow it up (a little) for the more straight-forward pop of “Your Summer Dress,†a melody-driven song that begins with an iconoclastic minute-eighteen musical intro. And not one of those annoying swirling wind “look at me I’m dramatic†intros…Just good interplay between the guitar, keys and rhythm section. Other highlights include “Car No Driver,†where the harmonies are not content to be between vocalists—they also bring in the feedback and more of that extraordinary drumming, and a power guitar riff that can’t be beat. The saddest part of the band is that they appear to have jettisoned their female member, who added a surprising, uncommon element to this otherwise-still-great group. I hope they can all kiss and make up, because the group, as a whole, sounds so complete. It’s rare that I hear a group like this—that seems to be one giant beast rather than a group of individuals.
Great stuff. Check it out.
For fans of: Yo La Tengo, Mogwai, Saturna, Jesus & Mary Chain, and fuzzy guitar shoegazer pop.
