It is kind of unfortunate that you can tell what type of band Demon Happy are from the opening moments of ‘Dream Soda’. With screeching fuzz-infused guitars and grunge-inspired melodies, it’s carried by an indie cool aura that the NME would embrace and probably tell you they’re the next big thing. Yet on this evidence they probably won’t be, however ‘Dream Soda’ isn’t a bad album.
Demob Happy do pull off the “Nirvana meets Queens of the Stone Age” sound very well. Tracks like ‘Haat De Stank’, and ‘Summoner’ are subtly scrappy and are held down by Matt Marcantonio’ raw vocals. Whereas the woozy ‘Succubus’ allows him to take centre stage alongside charging guitars. ‘Man You’re Wrong’ wallows with bluesy guitars and intimate vocals, and the concluding ‘Strange Things’ twists the mood towards a dark alley with intriguing results.
Nevertheless Demob Happy’s presentation bores me. Whilst there are brief shining moments, the whole cocksure grunge-infused indie rock style soon becomes tiresome and lacks substance. If you like a majority of the bands featured on this site, you should avoid this. However if you’re a fan of confident indie rock bands who have tendency to borrow from the past without leaving a lasting impression, then go all guns blazing into ‘Dream Soda’.
2/5
‘Dream Soda’ by Demob Happy is out now on SO Recordings.
Demob Happy links: Website|Facebook|Soundcloud
Words by Sean Reid (@SeanReid86)
