Album Review

Dinosaur Pile-Up – Nature Nurture

• 10th Jun 2013

Alt-rockers Dinosaur Pile-Up’s second release is as explosive as it is contagious. The opening track wastes no time in kicking the LP into gear, as Arizona Waiting bursts open in the first two seconds with the band’s familiar riffs and general biting vocals.

Nature Nurture is the LP you’d expect from DPU, but it is the unexpected here which sets it apart from their previous effort. Lead singer and songwriter Matt Bigland shows no signs of losing his prowess, with earworm tracks that will find there way into your hearing vessel and stay there for weeks on end.

One such example of this is the album’s lead single Derail, which is typical of the rest of the album. It features influences found in Weezer’s harmonics and guitar work, but brings the British rock sound to it. Another such track is Heather, which opens with James Sacha’s lingering bass before Bigland and drummer Mike Shiels jump into the fray.

Heather sounds like a mix of 90’s grunge and 00’s punk, a Smashing Pumpkins vibe being very evident. But The Way We Came sounds like Nirvana. The thing is, DPU sound like these bands without meaning to – it’s easy to sound like your inspirations, and this is not a bad thing by a long shot. DPU have taken this sound, these sounds, and have made it there own.

There is something nostalgic about listening to this album, even though it comes out next week. DPU have a hit record, that is mature from the get go. Tracks like Start Again and Draw A Line being so visceral in the bands approach, that it’s near impossible not to smile as you listen.

The album closer is the title track, and Nature Nurture is also the longest, clocking in at just over 4 minutes. It brings to an end a well rounded and well made record. Dinosaur Pile-Up have conquered that “difficult second album” syndrome which most band’s find themselves facing, and released something slightly better than their debut. If they keep this up, they’ll soon have bands sounding like them.

Download: Derail, Heather, White T-Shirt and Jeans, Peninsula

Venue: Nature Nurture
Support Band: So Recordings