Album Review
If the Dynamite Club are like Fight Club, would they be a group of musicians getting together to blow themselves up? Or does the name of this New York City band refer to the kind of club people whack each other with, but one made out of dynamite that makes the listener's head explode? These questions might come to mind in the aftermath of hearing the group's second CD, It's Deeper Than Most People Actually Think.... But the overwhelming mental image experienced in reaction to the program of songs is actually not that of dynamite at all, but of muscle — a shipment of muscles packed into huge wooden cartons, then dumped down the loading chute into the basement of a remote Brooklyn warehouse. Mike Pride's drums — when he isn't playing one of a dozen other instruments — pound like a wall being dropped from a roof. His snare drum sound is barely legal in Manhattan circa the "homeland security" era, the tone in midrange classified as a lethal weapon under the same legislation that led to lengthy dungeon time for Jose Padilla. The blast of guitarist and singer Kentaro Saito and the all-important bassist identified as Byrne Klay is a dirty bomb reference in itself, leading to the previous miscarriage of thought, but more easily understood in rock music terms as some really loud grunge. Fans of the latter style sometimes divide their bands into two camps based mostly on technical ability. In that sense, Pride and pride are obviously not simply eager amateurs. Beyond playing really well, they also decorate the tracks with attention-getting, often attractive nuances of complexity, sometimes shear freakishness. Some of the songwriting, however, is more like the legacy of popular punk combos with humdrum chops and dull arranging skills: "Frozen P***s" and "S**t in the Air" could be titles on a Circle Jerks album. This isn't the only stylistic detonation from the Dynamite Club: other sections sound like the Butthole Surfers, the Bad Brains, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and even the Rolling Stones, late period. As jam-packed with excitement as these 17 tracks are, this list could go on and on, a worrisome factor even when a group comes on so strong. One song highlight is "A Friend of a Friend of A...," possibly because it seems sort of relaxed.
