by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
You have to hand it to Los Angeles’ Dummy, they’ve never released the same record twice. Since their debut EP cemented them as one to watch, the band have been weaving around their art pop core, blending retro futuristic dream pop, lounge indebted reverb drifts, and shoegaze into a soft out of focus bliss. Free Energy, the band’s new album, is out today via Trouble In Mind Records (Naked Roommate, Nightshift, Melenas), marking a decidedly pronounced shift in their sound while retaining the foundation of their past. It’s a lively record, built on rhythmic momentum, adopting the jangle and spirit of the “baggy” scene, inching closer to these days to The Stone Roses than any Stereolab comparisons. This is Dummy though, and they’re very much their own band, blurring the dots between complimentary ideas.
With the record out today, Dummy present a video for “Minus World,” an exceptionally layered power-pop song that jangles and swarms in equal measure, like a cloud of bright fluorescent fog. The syrupy melodies eventually drop with little warning into a dirge of kinetic noise before popping back in just as fast, only to dissolve into a locked in rhythmic groove. It’s really something, a song that never stays still and yet keeps a natural cohesion that fits Dummy’s sound to perfection. The video, directed and edited by Emma Maatman, follows a kite’s path on a beautiful secluded beach, freely bobbing over the water and sand at the edge of a serene landscape. As the temperature of the song changes, so does the video, diving into psychedelic heat map pinks, purples, and blues. It’s a simple shift that effectively captures the change in dynamics.
The band celebrate their album’s release tomorrow, September 7th, at Lodge Room in Los Angeles with Corridor, Time Wharp, and Blimp.