The DMA’s, Lordi, Andy White & Tim Finn: New album reviews

They once were Eurovision darlings, now they’ve unleashed a different type of awards program PLUS The DMA’s and Andy White & Tim Finn.

Lordi | Picture: Eero Kokko

This week’s album reviews from The Courier-Mail (ratings out of five stars):

POP

The DMA’s, How Many Dreams?

(I OH YOU/Mushroom) ***

The band formerly known as The Dirty MA’s continue to evolve on this, their fourth long-player. Their synth-rock hybrid recalls the likes of Fall Out Boy, and the similarities don’t get much more obvious than on tracks such as Everybody’s Saying Thursday’s the Weekend. The opening title track is equal parts strumming guitar and thudding bass, encapsulating the core of their crossover appeal. I Don’t Need to Hide similarly contrasts persistent doof with poignant guitar. There are the familiar traces of Britpop, too, from the Verve-like symphonics of Forever to the New Order-esque guitars of Get Ravey and the piano notes of Jai Alai with their shades of Keane. Then there are the melodic guitar breaks of Olympia, while on De Carle frontman Tommy O’Dell sings: “Rapture is coming, and we could be forever.”

METAL

Lordi, Screem Writers Guild

(Atomic Fire) **1/2

They found global fame as winners of Eurovision 2006, now they tackle a different awards show with a concept album of sorts. And while they channel the likes of theatrical shock rockers Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne, they could be Finland’s answer to Spinal Tap with their satirical sensibility. Screem Writers Guild is a succession of horror-film-themed “awards” with a vampiric MC. The balladry of The Bride belies its dark moments: “If you cross me there’s one thing you should know: the blood will flow.” “Demon biology mixed with technology, he sings on Inhumanoid. Elsewhere, Vampyro Fang Club could be from the Lost Boys soundtrack with its ’80s-style keyboards, and there are childhood recollections and a funereal organ in End Credits. There’s nothing unexpected here, and devotees will be happy with that.

ROCK

Andy White & Tim Finn, AT

(Floating World) ***1/2

Yes, Neil is immensely talented, but Tim has always been my favourite Finn, even when taking second billing as he does here to North Irish singer-songwriter Andy White. As the title suggests, it’s two-thirds of supergroup ALT which also featured Hothouse Flowers’ Liam O’Maonlai. And the remaining duo’s styles remain complementary. Folksy opener The Sea Holds the Memory pays tribute to the duo’s origins before giving way to the plugged-in, more rocking My Regeneration. And the two troubadours produce radio-friendly rock with enough of a folksy element to give it meaning and cred. There’s the infectious cymbal-beat and accordion flourishes of Bundle of Their Dreams, which salutes their forebears, and the jaunty, Beatlesque Everything Twice. The rhythmic, symphonic It’s Family recalls Finn Brothers in both feel and theme.

Originally published as The DMA’s, Lordi, Andy White & Tim Finn: New album reviews