There’s a lot of dumb music out there. Music whose entirely value prop is basically getting you not to think. That can be a great thing, but more often it is a very bad thing.
Vancouver’s Dumb, on the other hand, make decidedly not-dumb music. One could easily call it smart, in fact. Press play on new single “Beef Hits,” and it’s clear quickly that frontman Franco Rossino is a hyper-literate dude with a quick wit and a snark that puts Dumb directly into conversation with A. Savage and the rest of Parquet Courts — particularly the early stuff, pre-Human Performance, when the youthful energy was still raw and new.
And the band behind him has that youthful energy in droves, angular and wiry, expertly mining the sweet spot between jangle and post-punk riffage… And thennnnnnnnn: the sax solo hits. Curveball!!!! Is this, you may wonder, dumb? Maybe. That’s when the whole overthinking enterprise collapses unto itself. Oh right: we’re here to have fun.
Dumb’s second full-length Club Nites is out June 7 on Mint Records. Pre-order it on Bandcamp and stream “Dumb Hits” below:
Club Nites tracklisting:
01. Club Nites
02. Submission
03. Don’t Sleep
04. Beef Hits
05. Cursed
06. My Condolences
07. Content Jungle
08. Some Big Motor Dream
09. Fugue
10. De Más
11. Columbo
12. Slacker Needs Serious Work
13. Knot In My Gut
14. CBC Radio 3
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