by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Not every band is out there to "change music as we know it" and to be completely honest, that's a good thing. Pushing boundaries and blurring genres into a ragged pulp is always appreciated but so is the ability to write good and honest songs. You remember songs, don't you? The kind that are memorable... the kind that stick with you... the kind that Doubting Thomas Cruise Control have been perfecting for several years now. The Brooklyn based quartet are set to release Bob Ross II, a new full length via the band's own Duckbill Records in January, the follow up to last year's criminally underrated Remember Me John Lydon Forever.
Recorded and mixed at the Barn in Panton, VT by Nick Dooley (Washer, Stove, Flagland), the album is full of punchy indie rock built on earworm hooks, winding melodies, and fuzzy "college rock" guitars. Led by vocalist/guitarist Bobby Cardos, DTCC rip through the album in short bursts (only two of the album's thirteen tracks eclipse the three minute mark) of introspective fuzz pop and "slacker" charm. Careful to never overstay their welcome, the songs are quick and to the point yet loaded with nuance and dynamic structures. Bob Ross II is tight and focused, the result of the band recording and mixing the album over a five day span last Spring, capturing a time and place in every way from the lyrics to the artwork.
Of the albums many highlights (and there are a lot of them), we're excited to premiere the record's first single "Dolt," a jittery track about anxiety with an abundance of energy and heartwarming sentimentality that reminds you "it's okay". The song jangles over a hard hitting rhythm as Cardos and Sean Kelly's guitars roar between bursts of distortion and twangy riffs. Speaking about the song, Cardos shared:
"It begins with a retelling of the scene in Dostoevsky's The Idiot when Myshkin bursts into a tirade against the Church, and in the midst of it knocks over a vase and collapses into a seizure. In general it's a song about anxiety, about this guy who burrows in his head when confronted with big social gatherings, but then occasionally tries to overcompensate by getting into these half thought out arguments that come-off as half-baked because he missed all the context while being stuck in his head, and everything he does to try and loosen up just makes him hunker down further into his internal monologue."
I love this band and all their wonderful songs. Check out "Dolt" and catch the band live in Brooklyn at Shea Stadium on December 21st with Spit, Ubetcha, Michael Fiore and Patio (DJs).
Doubting Thomas Cruise Control's new album Bob Ross II is due out January 27, 2017 via Duckbill Records.