Sometimes you can tell what a band is going to sound like before you’ve heard a note of their music. This is true with The Dotted Eyes. As their painfully twee name suggests they create fragile indie music a lá Conor Oberst or She and Him. This, ‘Wondering & Worrying,’ is the Boston based band’s debut LP. From the opening xylophone solo of ‘You and Me,’ this is the dictionary definition of gorgeous, tender indie-folk. Girl/boy vocals and acoustic guitars are a fixture here, and the well-worn juxtaposition is put to good use in tracks like ‘More Than Pretend.’
The album is not all throwaway quirky indie love songs. There are more outright beautiful emotional outpourings on this album like ‘One Shot;’ a piano ballad with a sultry charm and a big heart. Tracks like ‘Stay’ have a more complete feel with a Death Cab for Cutie vibe. This is ethereal and elegant music-making with truly charming lyrics. This is by no means an album of simple, three chord acoustic songs and there is some depth here. Tracks like ‘Send Relief’ are gorgeously multi-layered compositions; however these offerings are thin on the ground.
<a href=“http://thedottedeyes.bandcamp.com/album/wondering-worrying” data-mce-href=“http://thedottedeyes.bandcamp.com/album/wondering-worrying”>Wondering & Worrying by The Dotted Eyes</a>
At their best The Dotted Eyes are very, very good but this is a hit and miss album. Tracks like ‘Salt and Sea,’ featuring banjos, xylophones and vocals so twee it would make Zooey Deschnael sick, are the kind of tracks that should have had a bit more time spent on them.
This is a feel-good, quirky indie album with mainstream ambitions. It features the kind of songs you can imagine hearing in the latest indie rom-com or an advert for the new iPhone. It is an overly clichéd collection of sometimes-adorable-sometimes-irritating ditties about love. If this album was a person you know it would be the one that goes to vintage stores, defines themselves by their love of tea and gin and wears too much floral. You kind of love them but most of the time you wish they’d get over themselves and grow up. An enjoyable if underdeveloped indie record.
3/5
‘Wondering & Worrying’ by The Dotted Eyes out now.
The Dotted Eyes links: Official Website|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp
Words by Tom White.
