Dmonstrations

NorCal meets SoCal; shredding Japanese technique.

Out of the ashes of Dosage and Usage (dance-punk bands) Dmonstrations arises. Resting between punk and avant-garde, the band wastes little time in getting their point across. The dance-punk sounds of earlier years have been left behind for a full on sonic assault.

"Night Trrors, Shock!", is the first full-length album by San Diego-based trio Dmonstrations. After the release of their self-titled debut EP, critics tagged the trio an 'art-punk' outfit, and Dmonstrations were subsequently compared to the likes of Melt Banana, Ex Models, Minutemen, Deerhoof, and Arab On Radar. The band's second year saw them develop their own, more unique formula, although the 'art-punk' label seems destined to stay-put. Constructed from a tightly-wound bass-guitar-drums palette, their sound 'demonstrates' both intense accuracy and, especially vocally, a panic-inducing degree of mayhem. The album materialized and is, according to the band, a direct reflection of what they'd endured over the previous year. The LP is essentially the story of a would-be insomniacs struggle with terrifying nightmares by fighting sleep at any expense. This character decides to document his own personal war on sleep-induced terrorism, and ultimately the disintegration of his own sanity.

Dmonstrations, a Southern California/Tokyo post-punk band, tries to carve a place for themselves in the same space as Deerhoof, but end up just sounding like a tribute band. Singer Tetsunori Tawaraya has the freakout thing without the cutesy manga thing; actually, he’s also in Japanese punk band 2Up, which released a similarly messy (but slightly harder) CD, Teenage Mondo Trash, earlier this year. But Dmonstrations brings a bit of pop to the formula, only to explode into chaos when just when you’re getting comfortable. Even though this music has its complexity, it is of the simplest kind: put a drum rhythm in opposition to the bass, add some screeching guitars, and directionless art-vocal. Fragments of melody strain to get a look in on tracks like “Coelacanth Shower”, but are thwarted by Tawaraya’s whiny scream. But three tracks prove there’s more to the band than posture: “London Machine” alternates chaotic atonality with a slow-played arpeggio riff totally Dmonstrations’ own; “I (heart) Night Trrors” effectively conjures a true night terror, with out of tune drones and subtle effects fizzing through the air; and “Polyp” is quite effective at creating this feeling of marching chaos. The messiness is studied, but if the band cleaned up just a little, this difficult disc would have a much wider appeal.

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