| CD REVIEW Dysfunctional By Choice |
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Band : Dysfunctional By Choice Many will be those among you to never have heard about Dysfunctional By Choice (Dysby for the initiated)…I mean, even I myself, you know…but this Parisian band was actually founded 12 years ago! Granted, after 4 warmly praised (by the media) and received (by the music fans) EPs (which displayed influences from Grunge heroes the likes of Nirvana, Helmet, but also Radiohead, Rage Against The Machine, Tool, and even The Beatles…mixed with a weirdness coming from the additional influences from the individual members from either Jazz, Classical, Pop, or electronic music) and numerous tours through France, the band completely disappeared from the scene somewhere in 2001…to the point that most people who’d actually known them thought they’d split and became one of those cherished musical memories of the late ‘90s and early new millenium. Silence around the band was broken early this year, the band announcing their return with a couple of shows and an upcoming album to be issued through new imprint Ghandi’s Revenge in April. A Daring one too, for one which goes against the grain of current music business practices as the release is really a box set package. You see, hidden in the design of the CD is a code which allows you to download the band’s trilogy EPs Beta – Gamma – Delta (Gamma being the EP they issued before “disappearing” a couple of years ago, and the second in their then unfinished trilogy)…for free! The package itself would be a casket box with the ever-present theme of “The Fall” (something the band has adhered to from their beginning days), with the picture of a man falling. I didn’t quite understand about the artwork, but apparently it’s a layered thing…and I sure hope I can get my hands on one of the original releases, because it all sounds very intriguing – not to forget the download possibility! Because what the band offers is really amazing! Following the short album opening “Fog” (best described as a weird mechanized bagpipe being played overlain with somewhat backgrounded robotic spoken words) come “Alert” and “Travelling In Travel”, which offer the best of Grunge Rock/ Metal with the most catchy hooks and layered vocal stylings…the two linked with a fade-out and fade-in of some electronic noise. Towards the ending of the latter, some weird Ambient synth sounds enter the song to link it to the 50-second “Optimum” (some robotic spoken words again, but very much in the background). No intro into the ensuing “Sleep & Learn” which, with its slow guitars and robotic vocals (this time at the forefront) make for a very groovy and catchy Industrialised song. Halfway through, the song is even harmonized with the addition of some truly beautiful piano play (replaced further on with the wackiest of small synth/ sampler noises/ sounds). “Feedback Disease” comes with a return to the band’s own take on Grunge and its multiple vocal stylings…somewhat of a melancholic touch in certain passages, passionate scream at others! At the end of this song, the guys have already engaged in the calm and serene 90-second instrumental “Iced Bed”, which combines the tones of simple synth (“piano” mode) with that of a ghostly clavichord (eerie, the beauty of that!). It makes the explosiveness of the ensuing “Non Reached Lights” the more effective and sudden! Fading out with a spiralling of the actual closing of the song for yet another sonic experiment by the band! If anything can be said of “Pimple”, it’s that its 2 minutes encompass the most aggressive song on the album (screamed vocals alternated against the more Grunge-styled ones, and the guitars bringing in a couple of very aggressive passages as well, notably in the screamed sections). Again, the synthetic static sounds of the song’s outro melt seemlessly into the next track, which is a return to the mechanoid sounds, a robotic voice in the background making its incomprehensible babble while on top of the electric static a serenely soothing atmospheric, say Ambient, keyboard is being played. And for once, the guitar tones which start off “Gotham”, are melted into the outro of the experimental track (probably just to make a difference, see?). “Gotham” is a weird one, somewhat repetitive (but still nice) at first, but with a breakdown and turn halfway through, before returning to the up-paced opening rhythms and melody. Player at a someshat slower pace, the Grungy album closer “Underworld” is also the longest track on the album with its 7:46 length! In short…that’s an obvious joke, seen as how I took on the review of this album (sorry for the length, not all albums càn be reviewed in the same way, and in this case I felt compelled to go song-by-song)…considering my personal preference for aural experimentations and music genre blendings, and the fact that the band’s Grunge songs are dàrned good to start with, there’s no other way for me to go in my appreciation of this album, but to put it on top of my year-lists! The album having been released already that long ago in France, you’re also able to read up on a bunch of reviews in the blogs…but now here’s the bést thing: you can check out the whóle album at myspace.com/dysby under “sounds like” (another kick in the face of the music business, really)! I just hope I can still get an original copy of the album, because…can we really expect the re-issue on Drakkar to contain that code for the downloads? I wonder! 98/100 Tony. |