Dom : Sun Bronzed Greek Gods EP
Dom, the Worcester, Mass.-based lo-fi pop outfit fronted by a surname-free Dominic (a device that protects him from people that he supposedly owes money, or so the story goes), released first EP Sun Bronzed Greek Gods back in 2010 on their own in limited quantities. This brief, fuzzy set earned them the type of praise and hype that’s not terribly uncommon for unsigned bands these days, but still a longshot for most artists. It resulted in subsequent online disagreements with Girls, chill time with Gucci Mane, and a well funded new label in Astralwerks, which is re-releasing the EP, remixed, remastered, the whole bit.
The appropriately titled Sun Bronzed Greek Gods is precisely the type of album most likely to be on the receiving end of blogger and critic praise in 2010. It’s beachy, it’s lo-fi, it’s a little glo-fi and it’s definitely rooted in classic pop sounds of the ’70s and ’80s. Reverb heavy surf guitar sidles up against organ and synthesizer, guided by breathy, albeit carefree female vocals. So carefree, in fact, that sample lyrics include “It’s so sexy… living in America.” Listening to Dom’s blissfully hedonistic and often silly garage pop, one could easily believe that this is the type of band whose tour merchandise is plastered with bald eagles or watercolor wolves.
Certainly, Dom offers a satisfying confection, one loaded with hooks and smiles. Yet, Dom is by no means unique. Each of the seven songs on Sun Bronzed Greek Gods treads entirely familiar territory, and the world probably needs another boy-girl guitar-moog garage pop band about as much as the Kardashians need more cable-network enablers. Still, while the music Dom creates isn’t especially novel, their songs are well written and aesthetically crisp, making Sun Bronzed Greek Gods hard to resist, even if it’s not terribly essential. Alright, I suppose one more won’t hurt.
Similar Albums:
Best Coast – Crazy For You
Girls – Album
Real Estate – Real Estate
Jeff Terich is the founder and editor of Treble. He's been writing about music for 20 years and has been published at American Songwriter, Bandcamp Daily, Reverb, Spin, Stereogum, uDiscoverMusic, VinylMePlease and some others that he's forgetting right now. He's still not tired of it.