Review: Dutch Uncles | O Shudder
Dutch Uncles![Shudder -Headstuff.org]()
O Shudder
[Memphis Industries]
It’s a rare feat in modern music when a band releases something that can genuinely be considered timeless – an album that manages to sound wholly contemporary, built on the bases of countless eras of rock and pop gone by, while simultaneously sounding almost futuristic in its ambition. I’m happy to report that Dutch Uncles have managed to deliver something which ticks all of the above boxes with fourth studio effort O Shudder. Seemingly one of the only pop guitar bands around these days with brains and an understanding of texture and subtlety, the quintet put their best foot forward with this offering.
The first cluster of songs emphasise how good these guys are. O Shudder‘s opener, ‘Babymaking’, sets the scene perfectly for the rest of the album while at the same time managing to not give too much away. When it kicks in, the use of textural synth lends the song a dreamlike quality, yet there’s a solid beat that keeps things moving. ‘Upsilon’, picks up the pace a bit, but it keeps it predecessor’s tonic depth. ‘Drips’ expands on these ideas again, with a beautiful call and response woodwind intro that becomes the basis for the whole song. The focus is always on simplicity here. There’s no wankery on the guitars or keyboards or bravado in the vocal lines, just simple riffs, licks and motifs that all knit together with gorgeous ease to create a rich tapestry of sound. The final song of this quartet, ‘Decided Knowledge’, steps back from the easy-going sonic ether of the previous songs, opting instead for something that recalls Huey Lewis and The News more than building on what the album started, but what it does display is a welcome willingness to experiment and pull inspiration from just about anywhere.
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Alas, it must be said that O Shudder doesn’t fully deliver on the promise of its opening act, sounding a bit uneven as it heads towards the climax. Lead single ‘In N Out’ (the record’s bass-driven chief toe tapper), the driving yet distant ‘Accelerate’ and the perpetually climbing closer ‘Be Right Back’ are exceptions, but its second half tends to falter under the weight of the expectations it set itself at the beginning. Songs like ‘I Should Have Read’, ‘Given Thing’ and ‘Tidal Weight’, while still texturally and harmonically rich for the most part, just never quite reach full potential, and can feel strangely desolate even when all of the bells and whistles are applied.
Having said that, it’s likely the case that the weaker songs merely pale in comparison to some of their genuinely excellent counterparts, as opposed to being weak songs in and of themselves. When you can say that about an album, you know you’ve just listened to something special. And O Shudder is special. Musically, it’s an astonishingly deep album. Dutch Uncles experiment here with an impressive variety of synth sounds that most bands wouldn’t be confident enough to tackle (some so twee that they haven’t been heard since the ’80s), and yet their contextual control over their use of those sounds belies their young years. They also show some merciful restraint in their guitar use – crisply toned, often palm-muted but always decorative, Dutch Uncles resist the urge to have the axes bashing out chords constantly to keep them busy, and instead let them weave in and out of the music to compliment the rest of the accompaniment.
That same approach stretches to the vocals. Harmonies are rare on O Shudder, and Duncan Wallis’ playful takes tend to slot in nicely as just another melodic line in most songs, never demanding all of the attention. Special mention must be made for some of the stellar bass work too, particularly in the album’s second half, that would have had ’70s and ’80s funk producers the world over beaming with pride. Thematically, O Shudder is essentially a coming of age album, one that explores the insecurities associated with one heading towards their thirties. There’s none of this insecurity or lack of confidence to be found in the music though; this is the sound of a band who are almost frighteningly sure of themselves, and who have come of age a long time ago.
