The Canadian born, London based band Dragonette are made up of Canadian singer Martina Sarbara, bassist and producer Dan Kurtz, drummer Joel Stouffer and British guitarist Will Stapleton. On Galore, the band deliver pop music with sophistication and maturity, a refreshing trend in a market where what sells as pop these days is often times driven by production alone. It is increasingly easy to write (or have someone write) a catchy song about looking for love or dealing with a broken heart and then giving it to a producer for a "hot beat." The problem with this formula for the artist is that in most cases the temptation of convenience and marketing makes the artist give up on their vision. The music goes from having the ability to evoke emotion and vivid memory to being relegated to a ringtone on your cellphone. Artists, bands and producers who do not give up their power and try to "sell" (out) a pop record are few and far between. Dragonette catch my attention and get my endorsement for having a fresh, slick, well produced sound while exhibiting musicianship and song writing that clearly demonstrate their worth as artists.
The album starts with the radio friendly dance-floor-ready I Get Around. While the cut is a pretty standard pop record it has some darkness and guts. The third track is called Take It Like A Man and is my favorite track on the album. Sarbara sounds like she went to the Gwen Stefani school of vocals here (not necessarily a bad thing). The track is a melodic, dark rocker with poetic lyrics that show again that the bands skills' go way beyond the standard pop label. After several forgettable slower tracks we hear a huge step in a different direction on Get Lucky. Besides being a beautifully written bittersweet number, Get Lucky has that great country-soul feel of Norah Jones or Duffy. Mind you, this is on the same album that sometimes plays like the alternative rock of No doubt or Garbage. What's more is that both these sounds are great offerings despite being very different. Not an easy task for a single group of musicians. Black Limousine is a very dark and heavy electro-rock cut and reminds me the most of No doubt's Return Of Saturn album. Finally the last track Marvelous is what solidified my stance as a fan of this album and of Dragonette. The sound is elevated to another level again, incorporating dub, tribal, and reggae elements into the band's established electro rock groove. The track is cleverly written and the vocals are bittersweet and charming as they are throughout Galore.
Dragonette is a highly talented band and Galore is a very versatile album. The lyricism is rich and vibrant, the sound is slick and although I would classify it as pop music I might call it pop with teeth. The tracks on Galore have a maturity and polished sound that set them apart from generic pop music and makes the music worth paying to hear. It is easy to sometimes think of pop music as having no soul, all glitz and no guts. Dragonette would definitely be an exception to this way of thinking.
