Sometimes, usually when I have too much time on my hands, my mind drafts off to the land of make-believe where I ponder situations such as this – if The Beatles had formed today, what would they sound like? Who would’ve inspired them? How would’ve the updated technology change their playing styles and instrument choices? Would they still matter?
I have to believe their updated sound would end up somewhere in the range of Smith Westerns. Heavy with vintage overtones, Smith Westerns take an approach to album creation that few bands are currently attempting. On Dye It Blonde, they simply playing the hell out of their instruments. Refusing to hide behind the trendy wall of computer generated hooks the indie movement has currently adopted, the band’s gutsy guitar solos and swooning vocals combine for a glam rock meets the white album sound if it were produced in the highlight of the 1990s. While looking in the rear view mirror and using the road map left for them by their founding fathers of music, somehow Smith Westerns manage to not only be relevant today, but turn out to be pretty vital.
With scruffy but danceable numbers like “Imagine Pt. 3” and “Dance Away” placed on an full length that is listenable from start to finish, Smith Westerns has succeeded where MGMT could not. They’ve managed to be more than just a throw back synth-pop band producing a spin-able single and a bunch of album filler. Hell, just give “Weekend” a spin and try to tell me that it cannot go toe to toe with “Time to Pretend.”
It needs to be stated just how extreme of a cleansing process it has been for Smith Westerns to get where they’re standing now. Just over a year ago, the band released a lo-fi, do-it-yourself garage rock release that yielded a limited future and limitless possibilities of failure. However, the obvious growth between releases is not only worth a listen, but worthy of praise. Keeping in mind that these kids are 21 at their oldest, one should be pleased with the unquestionable amount of maturity blasting through your headphone speakers. Hopefully that pans outward into a long and fruitful career. If it sounds anything like Dye It Blonde, I’ll happily add the catalog to my shelves.
4.5 out of 5 stars
