JJ MAGAZINE
Dinner // 2009, Self-Release
In this fast landscape of sardonic, tongue-in-cheek lyrics with bright-witted observations about the sustenance found in iced coffee, and tunes that make you want to Sufi-dance at a circus, Dinner, is a cool breeze on a hot day – “Shopping malls and diesel engine trucks” …Ahhh the Midwest. The song “yndwyt” (You Never Do What You’re Told) and much of the recording style of Dinner reminds me of the production of Cleveland “power-pop darlings” Macine Go Boom and their 2003 release, Thank You Captain Obvious, also mastered by long time Cleveland engineer and producer, Mark Klein of Noise Floor Studios. Dinner is masterfully produced, with songs like “Stoner” featuring carefully chosen ornaments of strings and “Be Happy Love” decorated with sentimental breathes of trumpet. Roxanne is a fun and scrappy mutation of Joan Jett, Patty Smith and Debbie Gibson in a death match…with Blondie refereeing. This band is nerd-core, power-pop at its best. I feel like I am in a John Hughes movie when I listen to Dinner, but in a refreshing way. It’s like reminiscing about watching the Goonies, playing Super Nintendo and listening to DEVO’s “We’re Through being Cool.” I feel like I have made out to these songs already. Dinner, Mmmm.
- Mishak
