Music Review: Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Smith Westerns released their debut LP The Smith Westerns on HoZac Records back in June 2009, and despite the album’s extreme (likely unlistenable to some) lo-fi recording quality, listeners latched onto the damaged guitar hooks and feel-good garage-pop aesthetic. The group maintains its unique take on pop with the latest offering Dye It Blonde, but the album is noticeably crisper and less drowned in chunky distortion. I fell in love with the blaring, compressed guitar tones on the debut LP, but simply attributed them to the method of recording. Dye It Blonde is cleaner but it still offers that charming dirt.

Opener “Weekend” begins with a bubbly lead guitar lick that recalls ‘60s pop and ‘70s glam. The sound is in line with that of present-day dirty garage rockers Black Lips, but the Westerns come off as less destructively drunk and more concerned with the beautiful simplicity of youth and the young love that comes with it. The guitar tone on “Fallen In Love” is up one of the darker alleys of The Beatles’ trademark sound (think “Taxman” and “Helter Skelter”), and “Smile” resides in David Bowie’s vein of glam-pop.

Many of today’s bands are undoubtedly recreating the vintage tones and styles of their chosen predecessors, particularly within the modern revival of garage and psychedelic rock. Smith Westerns may look far into the past for influences, but the subject matter on Dye It Blonde is that of timeless youth and bittersweet boy-girl tales. On “End of the Night,” singer/guitarist Cullen Omori boils young desire down to a simple phrase: “Everybody wants to be a star on Saturday night.”

Four stars.

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