DASH HOUNDS
DASH HOUNDS:
Alivia Kleinfeldt: Guitars, Bass Guitar, All Vocals
Brendan Manley: Guitars, Drums
with
Sam Galligan: Bass Guitar
Tom Teslik: Drums
Zach Guyette: Drum Machine Programming on "Dreamboy"
All Lyrics by Alivia Kleinfeldt
All Music Composed by Alivia Kleinfeldt and Brendan Manley except where indicated
Covert Art Photography by Dawn Kleinfeldt
Mixing and Engineering by Zach Guyette
Mastered by Justin Perkins
Arranged and Produced by Dash Hounds
Released August 27, 2016
In the final performances of Madison, WI's Modern Mod, which I was very fortunate to witness, the band performed two unrecorded selections at the end of each performances that were not only first rate, but ones that sounded worlds away from the glistening sunshine pop music of their one and only album "Tunnels" (released April 21, 2014). The songs, each armed with the respective tentative titles of "A Reminder" and "Capture," were forged with a considerably darker edge. These songs were brooding, even menacing as well as running a greater length and carrying significant time signature changes and a harder, more propulsive energy. My ears truly perked up with those songs (and truth be told, there is some part of me that still wishes they record those two songs just to have them firmly collected somewhere), because they suggested new musical directions the band could continue into should they move forwards.
But, Modern Mod did indeed disband with all of the members moving forwards into new musical territories just not entirely with each other as bandmates while they do remain supportive friends. Around that time period, Modern Mod co-founder/songwriter/bassist/singer Alivia Kleinfeldt had been ruminating over a possible solo concept for herself. While admittedly having difficulties stringing together or completing her arsenal of ideas, she turned to her former Modern Mod bandmate, drummer Brendan Manley (also of Madison, WI's Post Social) as a possible collaborator. He agreed and the twosome hatched Dash Hounds in earnest, a vehicle not only for Kleinfeldt to showcase her talents as a frontwoman, guitarist and lyricist but also for Manley as a songwriter, arranger and guitarist as well.
Now, nearly one year later, Dash Hounds have fully arrived with their debut 5 track EP entitled "Eft," and it is a stunning, superior document and culmination of their combined efforts, intentions and artistry. As with those unrecorded selections from Modern Mod, the music of Dash Hounds is indeed worlds away from these musicians' former band. In fact, these songs feel as if they were created in an entirely different musical universe, so surprising and marveling that these are essentially the same musicians at work and play. Within "Eft," darkness is abound as well as a certain dreamworld aesthetic that is sometimes soothing, sometimes disturbing, and entirely enveloping.
1. "Dreamboy" (music composed by Kleinfeldt/Manley/Teslik/Galligan)
-"Eft" opens with a veritable epic, the seven and a half minute "Dreamboy," that at first sounds like a low-fi version of Fleetwood Mac's "Over And Over," before luxuriously unveiling itself into a widescreen effect through your speakers via Kleinfeldt and Manley's hypnotically shimmering guitar riffs and their equally swaying rhythm section.
Once the song settles into its slow, early morning dream-state groove, Kleinfeldt begins to sing the following:
"Consult the public for a surefire way to die
Shortly before I recompose myself from losing my mind
Over the word of my best friend
He'd do it for me if he knew I'd tried again
You could say that I don't take news very well
Now I can hardly keep myself in control"
For a song that is musically languid to the point of serene calmness the intensity of the lyrical content is striking in its juxtaposition. Kleinfeldt's richly lush vocals carry an otherworldly demeanor that is dangerously inviting, a quality she utilizes throughout the entirety of the EP. And then, heading back to those lyrics for a moment, (of which I have not spoken with the members of Dash Hounds regarding the meanings behind the songs) the ambiguity and mystery contained certainly more than lends itself to any unsettling moods. Who is the "Dreamboy," for instance? Is he even real or is he just a figment of the narrator's fractured sanity? Even moreso, what is it that she tried before and again?
Musically, the song is an unhurried affair, a study in patience and dimension as the guitars twist, entangle and formulate new textures over and again (just as beautifully accomplished in Post Social), becoming hypnotic, and ultimately narcotic as my ears could listen to the song's concluding section repeatedly and endlessly.
2. "Clover" (music composed by Kleinfeldt/Manley/Galligan/Teslik)
-"What happened to forever?" asks Kleindfeldt in the EP's spellbinding second track, which takes the glorious guitar work to even further soundscapes as Dash Hounds fully displays their stormy qualities through a gradually accelerating tempo which builds to a whirlwind by the song's abruptly ferocious ending.
Kleinfeldt's vocals continue to exude a certain paranormal quality within this song as she repeats the phrases "I know that we'll be together" and especially, "I need you on my side" by the song's near climax. So spectral and gothic she sounds that I could not help but to wonder if her side was indeed the other side!
3. "Weekend" (music composed by Kleinfeldt/Manley with contributions from Galligan)
-This track began life as an unrecorded Modern Mod selection and I believe, aside from the lyrics, the song has been musically re-worked. That said, this song does sound perhaps closest to what was achieved in Kleinfeldt and Manley's former band as the traces of Pasty Cline and '50s girl group melodies and rhythms are subtly evident, even within the somnambulant pacing.
Possibly taking a page from John Lennon's lazy dream days as presented in The Beatles' "I'm Only Sleeping" and "I'm So Tired" as well as hi sown solo classic "Watching the Wheels," Dash Hounds' "Weekend" returns to more earthly trials as the song displays the relationship and envy one friend (the stagnant narrator) holds towards her ever in motion, and therefore, perpetually advancing friend. Again the juxtaposition is striking as the languid summertime slow beat perfectly augments the line "When the weekend is our only chance to sleep in/Better stay in bed," the music belies the song's intense level of full resentment and bitterness. When Kleinfeldt sings, "There is nothing left to do/ There's nothing here for you," this song which feels so calming is ultimately a harsh kiss off.
4. "Yes I Front"
-What a difference a year makes. With the EP's fourth track, we have a selection that heard at Dash Hounds' debut live performance last October and then, it sounded almost like the lost track by The Police. But over time and a drastic slowing of the tempo, the band has re-fashioned the song into something different and therefore, one that is more unique and fits ever so snuggly with the remainder of "Eft."
5. "Pudding" (music composed by Kleinfeldt/Manley/Galligan/Teslik)
-If "Eft" began in a daydream (albeit a troubling one), then with the EP's final track, Dash Hounds has conjured up a nightmare. Don't let the sweetness of the song's title fool you. This grinding multi-sectioned instrumental on which the vocals are nothing but Kleinfeldt's ghostly howls concludes "Eft" on a note that is grimly enveloping, submerging, dismaying and engulfing. The storminess is abound and we are caught in its eye provocatively.
Dash Hounds' "Eft" is a beautifully recorded and compulsively listenable release that has already sailed to being one of my favorite releases of 2016. As with Post Social's "Casablanca," Dash Hounds has utilized their meticulous attention to song composition and detail with the performance and recording process that not one sound feels to ever be out of place, as the experimentation and trial and error entirely fueled the writing, ensuring that each song was realized to its perfect and most complete point.
I have no idea whatsoever if Kleinfeldt and Manley have ever really listened to Fleetwood Mac but their collaboration often made me think of the peerless collaboration between Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, especially upon Nicks' compositions where she would have the lyrics, melodies and some other skeletal ideas which Buckingham would them arrange and fully realize in the studio. On the whole, Dash Hounds weaved a spell that to my ears sounds very in line with Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk" (released October 12, 1979), an album that was deeply ahead of its time (perhaps still so) and one that has proven its long lasting influence within indie rock circles for decades.
Regardless of whatever influences may or may not have inspired what Dash Hounds has become, what is unquestionably certain is that Alivia Kleinfeldt, Brendan Manley and their collaborators are serious musicians armed with endless creativity and the tastefulness to just know when to push, to hold back, to raise and release the tension and to also allow us to experience the spaces between the notes and the rhythms, understanding that every sound is inherent to the full success of the song itself. Remember, I have heard the bulk of these songs since their first live performance and even through some demos both Alivia and Brendan have been gracious enough to allow me to hear and even still, the final results upon "Eft" were elegantly surprising, often leaving my mouth agape in amazement with what they have achieved.
And beyond that, the highest compliment that I can give to Dash Hounds' "Eft" is that every time that I have listened to it in full, I wish to hear it all over again and it also leaves me more than anxious for the future, to hear whatever these extremely talented individuals will arrive with next.
Their skill and commitment is pure and palpable and I do urge you to just give them an honest chance by heading to their Bandcamp page where you can hear the EP in full and also purchase a copy for a most affordable price (or if you live in Madison, please head on down to B-Side Records on State Street should you desire a physical copy).
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
DASH HOUNDS "EFT" https://dashhounds.bandcamp.com/album/eft
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