The Dear & Departed

Something Quite Peculiar

Written by: PP on 08/06/2007 11:57:01

For a band that has shared stages with Avenged Sevenfold and AFI, The Dear And Departed has an awful few reviews of their debut album available on the internet. In fact, while googling for the reviews to see how well my own opinion of their debut matches that of other critics, I couldn't find a single review that wasn't somehow associated with having to purchase the album (Amazon-style). It seems that none of the sites covering 'the scene' are interested in this band, which I find especially strange considering that their debut album isn't even all that bad, albeit it largely is an imitation of AFI's new album "Decemberunderground".

But if you expect screaming or straightforward punk from this band based on that description, you couldn't be further away from the truth. Instead, the band focuses on a melancholic 80s pop vibe with a sense of indie rock arrogance oozing from in between the lines of each song. Think AFI's "Kiss And Control" played in a slightly more Britrock way, basically over 14 tracks of the album. The songs all have an epic undertone and are destined to be played at arena-size venues, and in fact I don't think tiny venues could do justice to the stadium rock sound of songs like "Tonight's The Night", which includes AFI style echoing pseudo-gang vocals on the background.

In summary, The Dear And The Departed are trying to build on the success of the balladic side of AFI, though still making sure their sound stays rock enough to appeal to a wide variety of fans, and at times it is not uncommon to notice a The Killers (old) vibe. There are a number of good tracks on the album but because it is so long, they all kind of just slump together because of their similarity to each other. But if you are looking for hook-and-riff melancholic stadium rock in the vein of AFI and The Killers, this is definitely a band to check out.

7

Download: Tonight's The Night, Bordering On Ordinary
For the fans of: AFI, The Killers, The Smiths, Morrissey
Listen: Myspace

Release date 22.05.2007
Record Collection

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