DC Post-Punk/Pop Band Dot Dash Return with Proto Retro Produced By Motion City Soundtrack Engineer Geoff Sanoff (The Beautiful Music)

Dot Dash are a Washington, DC-based trio, whose music seamlessly blends together Post-Punk, Jangle Pop, Avant Garde, Garage Rock, Power Pop, and standard Rock "N" Roll, amongst other assorted genres. Established around 2010, Dot Dash currently consists of Terry Banks on guitar & vocals, Hunter Bennett on bass, and Danny Ingram behind the drum kit; Dot Dash's members have previously played with the likes of Power-Pop-inclined Indie Rockers Julie Ocean, HarDCore pioneers Youth Brigade and The Untouchables, Indie-Poppers The Saturday People, Tree Fort Angst, Glo-Worm, and St. Christopher, as well as Swervedriver and Strange Boutique. Together, as Dot Dash, Terry, Hunter & Danny have played shows alongside The B-52's, Belle & Sebastian's Stevie Jackson, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Drums, Eternal Summers, Frankie Rose (ex-Dum Dum Girls,) Glen Matlock (ex-Sex Pistols,) Hugh Cornwell (ex-The Stranglers,) Ian Hunter (ex-Mott The Hoople,) Matt Pond PA, The Psychedelic Furs, Richard Lloyd (ex-Television,) Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Stiff Little Fingers, Swervedriver's Adam Franklin, Sylvain Sylvain (ex-New York Dolls,) Terry Malts, Urge Overkill, Wax Idols, Hardcore "founders" D.O.A. and oodles more.

Dot Dash have released a whopping 6 albums within just the past 7 years on Ottawa, Canada-based imprint The Beautiful Music; LP No.6, being their latest, Proto Retro, was recently recorded at Inner Ear Studios & The Bastille Recording Studio both located in Arlington, Virginia and was produced by Geoff Sanoff (A Perfect Circle, Fountains of Wayne, Secret Machines.) Dot Dash, themselves, have likened Proto Retro to The Jam, The Soft Boys, The Replacements, and Orange Juice and readily bill it as "taking a Poppier, Janglier direction, but one that retains the Punky, Garagey energy that has marked the band's previous releases." I would, however, personally compare Proto Retro to The Lemonheads' It's a shame about Ray, The Offspring, Franz Ferdinand channeling LCD Soundsystem, and The Witzard mainstays The Speedlights. I have to admit, I was "cold sent" a digital copy of Dot Dash's Proto Retro by guitarist Terry Banks a couple weeks ago and while this is my first exposure to the band's music... I'm thoroughly enjoying it and I hope you do, too! Dot Dash's Proto Retro is currently available to stream or download on their Bandcamp page, while CD Digipaks are available to purchase directly from The Beautiful Music's web-store.

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of...

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra...

Liberty Bell Cracked In 1/2: Ween - "Freedom of '76" (Gene Ween's Final Send-Off)

Chocolate & Cheese (1994) was one of the first albums I bought with my own money. I was in some sort of BMG Music Club , where you'd buy 5 CD's and then get 10 for "FREE." It was all sent through mail order and you picked the titles from some special booklet. I'm almost positive that Chocolate & Cheese's side boob-baring album cover was what initially drew me in... mind you, I was 12-15 and the zany Ween logo/middle finger CD graphic really didn't hurt either. Honestly, I forget how I really felt about it @ the time, but a few years later, my older cousin Josh told me that Ween were this BIG college "jam band." CKY did some sort pf 93.3 radio takeover to promote their new album and played "Freedom of '76" late that night on air. Needless to say, I re-visited Chocolate & Cheese @ about 20-something this go 'round and I fucking loved it! Ween were really weird, yet talented... almost too talented. I can vaguel...

The Witzard

Search This Blog