We’ll get this out of the way first. You could quite happily classify DD/MM/YYYY (sometimes referred to as Day Month Year) in a million and one different ways, everything from math-spazz-indie rock to Dada punk, post post post everything-core, intergalactic surf-jazz-pop, whatever you like: the name doesn’t matter that much. What’s important to know about this Canuck collective is that you have never heard anything quite like them before. So, if ‘Black Square’ is your introduction to the band… well, hold on tight.
Quite honestly, it would be possible to spend the rest of this review describing the different aspects of DD/MM/YYYY’s sound, it’s that convoluted. We will, however, keep it fairly brief. Take one part Blood Brothers style dissonant guitar weirdness, one part Don Cab style percussive insanity, a mountain of dying gameboys (a la Horse The Band), an assortment of hyperactive, LSD happy jazz musicians, and some very, very odd pop songs. Combine and shake thoroughly. Play backwards at double speed. Now you have something almost akin to ‘Black Square’. We know, mental, right?
Well, now that you come to mention it, yes, they are rather. But there’s more to this lot than your garden variety musical bonkers-ism. You see, ‘Black Square’ is a record of constant, unpredictable change… Minute to minute, song to song, the band hop between genres, time signatures, and even members, with the jovial, spaced out, electronically enhanced indie of ‘Infinity Skull Cube’ segueing into the piercing drone of ‘My Glasses’ and bizarre electro-jazz of ‘Birdtown’ (complete with Clarinet, no less). You’ve heard this said a thousand times before, but on this occasion you really don’t know what’s around the corner; only that it will be odd. Elsewhere we have uncomfortable, ear rending electronic noise in the form of ‘Lismer’, the sample-heavy ‘$50,000 Guitar Head’… it’s all over the place really.
How you react to such diversity will decide whether or not this album is for you. It’s true that such a range of sounds and styles can make for a disorientating and occasionally frustrating listen, but on the other hand, it also allows DD/MM/YYYY to create a veritable box of tricks that can shock, exhilarate, fascinate, and, yeah, confuse. It’s not entirely coherent, and we wouldn’t want it to be. In a world of premeditated, autotuned bollocks being pumped out of every radio in sight, and bands who deal in pale, sanitised rehashes of past masters are labelled as alternative and cutting edge, something authentically odd marks a much needed change. We’re really interested as to how the five-piece will be able to pull these tracks off in a live setting, as technologically and musically challenging as they appear… So fingers crossed we’ll have an opportunity to find out for ourselves before too long. We’ve no hesitation in recommending the record itself, just make sure you know what you’re letting yourself in for. None but the most open minded All Time Low fans need apply.
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