Album Review: The Dollyrots – Daydream Explosion

  • Peter Hough posted
  • Reviews

The Dollyrots

Daydream Explosion - Wicked Cool Records / The Orchard Records

The Dollyrots are the modern music business’ perfect band. They are absolutely committed to putting fans at the centre of everything they do, and what they do, they put 100% into. They don’t pretend that it’s not a business but it’s never the bloated and greasy corporate punk rock hustle you feel you’re getting from some of the so-called punk superstar bands. That essential honesty and genuine concern for making everything as good and desirable as it possibly can be makes this band genuinely engaging and possibly unique. The Dollyrots treat you like friends not fans, and you’d have to have a heart of stone not to love them for it.

And Daydream Explosion? What of it? It is 14 slices of archetypal upbeat, sun-drenched, undiluted punk glory. From the opening chiming, chugging intro to Animal, this album motors along, fuelled by Kelly and Luis’ perfect slick power pop punk. There is an instantly recognisable Dollyrots sound that derives from the driving guitars and Kelly’s trademark cutesy vocal – and there’s plenty of that. But hey, what’s this? Flippy In My Red Dress is pure jazz theatre, a sleazy nightclub romp full of creepy vibraphone and reverbed guitars. But fear not, the rest of the album is The Dollyrots‘ trademark power pop. None more so than Oblivious, with its joyous and quite gratuitous key changes. But each track is a winner: fresh but familiar, comforting and exciting.

Frankly, there’s not a dull moment on this recording. It’s harder in places than previous outings without losing that essential bubblegum charm. And like bubblegum, it’s vivid and persistent. First class songs that derive, I’m guessing, from a song-writing team that are also a family and beholden to no-one but themselves. There’s a formula at work here that doesn’t need to be changed. Nothing abstract or challenging, just timeless and pure pop punk music in its most ebullient and uplifting form. I love it.

Daydream Explosion will be released on July 12th and can be pre-ordered here