Drab Majesty

This is the third album by Drab Majesty, an interesting Los Angeles duo whose profile has risen for every release. This time around the sound is still very recognizable, but a slightly brighter tone has seeped in. You could say it’s not quite as drab anymore.

The genre is a bit hard to pin down. Is it goth, darkwave, dream-pop, post-punk – or all of those? Anyway, you will instantly feel right at home if you’ve listened to their previous albums. I think this one has stronger song writing though, with several tracks that instantly entered my daily playlist.

“Modern Mirror” starts off softly with ”A Dialogue”, but soon enters the dizzying heights of ”The Other Side” and ”Ellipsis” which are some of the best songs that Andrew Clinco has ever produced. In fact ”Modern Mirror” is littered with them. ”Oxytocin” and ”Dolls in the Dark” are also fantastic tunes for example.

The basic formula is very similar from song to song – smattering drum machines, one note bass lines, and glittering guitars on top. But Drab Majesty manages to keep my interest throughout.