Album Review

The D.O.T – Diary

• 5th Jun 2013

Album two from the DOT project is released early next week, on May 6, virtue of Mike Skinner, formerly of The Streets and Rob Harvey, previously the vocalist for Leeds’ The Music. Tripping on the coat tails of their debut ‘And that’, released last October, it’s almost instantly addictive.

The work is a theatrical tour de force as well as a creative and jolly pop collection. From the resounding opening of ‘Make it your own’ to the beseeching whimsy of ‘How hard can it be?’, this is a thoroughly enjoyable trip through the minds and musical scheming of two men and a drum machine.

I love a short, punchy intro, and got it with all one minute and two seconds of the opening tune. A little beaten and bruised by its fairly unsubtle thump, it certainly gets you in the mood, although is not necessarily a hint of what’s to come: next up is ‘Don’t look at the road’, a very recognisable piece of Skinner from his Streets days.

‘Blood, sweat and tears’ is also familiar – or at least that’s how it sounds to the Skinner-trained ear – with Harvey running the lead vocal. It is not the only song on the album to nudge up close to the Manic Street Preachers, with the same imploring lyrics, just to a more jolly tune.

If you want some sweet, quick and dirty street poetry, then ‘How we all lie’ is the song you need: have a dabble with “diction like friction and pockets of pennies”, “swimmin’ in wimmin’ with power and pride” and “Losin’ is brusin’ this ego of mine”, and find yourself in the safe hands of a wanton wordsmith.

‘Under a ladder’ is more words than music, with the tunes all bumpedy, bumpedy. It’s more stage musical than anything else, at least on a first listen.

Part of the power of ‘Makers mark’ appears to come from the sound effect of a wave crashing, but also from a clever vocal echo that somehow sits in the distance and creates a marvellous edge to the tune. Not bad, but I can’t say that the lyrics are particularly gripping.

The water theme is continued in ‘Left at the lights’, which starts with the mention of rain and could be the closest to the sound of the Manics, with the beginning eerily familiar. The song is more than worth it for the simple and clever ‘You sent me left at the lights, and left was so right’.

“I never want to be ‘Left alone’, I want to be loved” is an entirely reasonable statement of the human condition, with the need for love the dominant theme. Somehow, as sad as the theme is, I don’t think this is not a song about loneliness, and stands out for some pleasing sound effects and musical mixture.

When we reach ‘Wherever you may be’, the album feels like a piece of clothing that you like and then get to love really quite rapidly. It is hard to identify a specific musical theme that runs through, but this must be the song that wins for the best ‘ditty bits’. That may not be a term of art, but by now you’ll know what I’m getting at. I’m not sure how complex the music is. There’s a lot of drum machine and plenty of lyrics that don’t appear to delve too deep, but that’s only a surface impression.

On the second and third listen, certain songs are starting to take a hold, and one of the first is ‘Most of my time’, which “Is spent thinking about the past…” which is delivered with the kind of imploring lyrics and smooth velvety backdrop that make this maudlin machination a pleasure.

‘What am I supposed to do?’ is back to Skinner’s Streets persona, with the token profanity, a bit of “staring at the ground”, all wrapped up in a distinct London accent. Before we know it, he is “being shoved in the mouth”. And then it’s onto Skinner’s old weathered shoes: where is he going to point them, which at least explains one possible outcome of staring at the ground.

‘How hard can it be?’ is a folky thing, packed with middle of the road rhythms. The line, “How hard can it be, sitting under an oak tree” is not terribly complex, but it has a pleasing mingle with the music.

Other than knowing that the oak is the one of the hardest woods, not sure what all this means. But I like it.

Venue: Diary
Support Band: Cooking Vinyl