Chicago’s Smith Westerns showed up late for the party — about 40 years late. The teenage quartet’s home-brewed combination of garage-rock guitars, Beatles melodies, T-Rex and Bowie-esque glam-rock throws us right back into 1971. But this is no revivalist cover band. Smith Westerns’ sophomore album, Dye It Blonde, sees the band introducing its obvious influences to the 21st century, and the results are striking.
Since the release of their 2009 eponymous debut, Smith Westerns (with the help of producer Chris Coady of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio and Beach House fame) have ditched their overly distorted, lo-fi sound in favor of a cleaner, sunnier and frankly, more enjoyable approach. As a result, this album leans less towards the drunken scuzz side of garage rock and more towards the innocent pop side of things. But despite the change in direction, Dye It Blonde, drenched in reverb and echo, still maintains the hot and fuzzy aspects of the band’s throwback style.
Album opener and lead single “Weekend,” for example, drowns singer Cullen Omori’s wispy vocals under an onslaught of echoing chimes, doubled guitars and oscillating synths. Sure, he doesn’t have the strongest set of pipes around, but that’s all a part of the aesthetic — dreamy, layered rock requires dreamy, layered vocals, right? “Weekend” also showcases some of Dye It Blonde’s best lyrics: “What do you think? Is it normal to go through life oh so formal?” Omori’s shyness and innocence shine through as he continually contemplates the prospects of adulthood and love.
One of the few flaws of the album, however, is when this innocence crosses over into banality: “Oh girl, can’t you see what you’re doing to me?” and “Don’t you cry. Wipe that tear from your eye,” for example, are just too vague and stale to really mean anything.
What Smith Westerns lack in lyrical depth, however, they make up for with song structure, particularly their uncanny ability to send steady verses into soaring, sing-along choruses. Case in point: “All Die Young,” with its lonesome organ and weepy guitar pitted against lyrics longing for love and youth, is the last song on earth you would expect to burst into a shuffling chorus reminiscent of John Lennon’s “Oh Yoko!” But sure enough, hiding behind that sneaky drum roll is the jangly piano and falsetto of that 1971 classic. In fact, around every corner of Dye It Blonde, you’re sure to find something unexpected, whether it’s the surprise disco breakdown of “Dance Away” or the bubbling steel drum in “Imagine, Pt. 3.” Smith Westerns’ attention to these details is what makes this album such an immediate success.
For a group of self-proclaimed “losers back in school” who picked up their instruments to pick up girls, Smith Westerns know a surprising amount about music. Dye It Blonde isn’t the most innovative album ever, especially with its influences so heavily stitched onto its sleeves (they might as well put Marc Bolan in the credits), but it’s simply a great rock record — maybe even the best of 2011 so far. So what’s the future look like for this Chicago quartet? Well, they’re certainly poised to win over lots of new fans, because if their last words on the album are any indication, they’re out to “dye the whole world blonde”.
For The Record - 2/17/2011
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