Division Of Laura Lee

Dasnotcompute (Burning Heart/Epitaph)
by Ewan Wadharmi

They say you can’t please everyone. They must not’ve heard the disparate styles Division Of Laura Lee packs in tightly for all arrays of moods. Any garage band can sound like The Stooges/MC5 et al. But D.O.L.L. mixes in danceable Goth with skull-crunching, ball-buzzing goodness like “We Are Numbers.” Like The Jesus And Mary Chain’s flirtations with T. Rex, the bass pounds relentless under layers of fuzzy chugging. They manipulate the syncopation to build a desperate drive, then ice it with a flourish of creepy synthesizer. Britpoppers will dig the gentle balladry of “To the Other Side,” whose antithesis comes in the nasty beats and faux sitar of “Sneaking Up on Mr. Prez.” Remember when The Charlatans weren’t The Rolling Stone Roses? Yeah, it’s all that and more. Balance is the key word. From the individual elements sandwiched in each tune, to the way the songs are stacked shoegazer upon rabble-rouser; no wonder the kids come running.
(www.epitaph.com)