Dr. Manhattan - Dr. Manhattan

Band: Dr. Manhattan
Album: Dr. Manhattan
Genre: rock/pop/indie/electronic/post punk
Label: Vagrant

Tracks:
1.Big Chomper, Big Chomper
2. You Put The I in Team
3. Dirty, Scandalous, Dirty
4. Claims Should Echo
5. Gunpowder: A Ballet
6. The Party's Opinion
7. Tracey's Buns
8. To Feel Cozy Surrounded By Cats
9. Baton Rouge
10. Minds Like Ours
11. Pepper

As the world of music seems to be growing increasingly bland,new bands are given the task of making our over saturated musical pallets salivate. For some, it's adding a simple "twist of lime" to a sound that's been around for ages, but then there are the others who seem to come out of left field with a, "let's touch ever musical base possible," mental state. The latter of these two groups leads us to finding Vagrant Record's new act, Dr. Manhattan," who just released their self titled debut on March 11th, 2008. To say Dr. Manhattan is a grab bag of sound would not be nearly enough of an explanation of the sound these guys have been able to create.

Manhattan wastes no time in getting your feet moving with the electro-rocker, "Big Chomper, Big Chomper," which find Matt Engers delivering vocals that feel both completely relaxed yet are laced with a sense of youthful angst that I haven't heard since the early days of The Vines. I have to admit, a problem did arise quite early in the record for me and that is that the sounds are so all over the place that differentiating between tracks can be difficult, as found between the opener and the follow up track, "You Put The I in Team." The second track does have some piano work that puts many bands in the scene today to shame. It's not your typical four note synth line, but rather a whole melody lightly placed in the background as distorted guitars rage on to quickly paced drums. The hooks on the album is massive. "Claims Should Echo," the fourth track is a fine example of this, but it also serves as the centerpiece of Dr. Manhattan. Being only the fourth track in, it easily stands out above the entire album in terms of both sound, structure, and delivery. It's accessible by outsiders, but the band never leaves their collision of sound background in order to attract outsiders. The 6th Track, "The Party's Opinion," is a very slick rocker with Engers mixing the lyricism of Craig Owens with the delivery style of Gerard Way, all while maintaining his staple yelp/sing style. The one track that really gets under my skin in a bad way, seems to have been intentionally placed on the album to take you out of the groove of the record. "Tracey's Buns," a birthday song played on acoustic guitar opens with a few mistakes, like a one take recording. This of course gives the song a more down to earth feel, but the lyrics are just too simple to seem pure and from the heart. Think for the songs Kimya Dawson donated to Juno, but less entertaining. As the wall of sound found on other tracks is absent, Enger's voice seems more strained and broken than elsewhere on the album, however, with a catchy hook and teen girls as a fan base, this song will surely be hit with those the band is trying to sell to. I found a real gem buried near the end of the album with, "Minds Like Ours," which plays like a dark version of Panic at The Disco via their own debut album. It's quick and will surely get feet and teens moving and shows the band really crafting a well structured song rather than simply presenting a bunch of different ideas strung together, as seems to be the case on other tacks. Finally, the album comes to a close with the upbeat, "Pepper." This song keeps the dark synth tones of the previous songs, but has a sticky bass line that really gets under your skin. The music is strange as ever and Engers voice is on an ace level in terms of both delivery and punctuation. It's a great summary of not only the album, but the band and the sound they've been crafting since inception.

Dr. Manhattan's self titled debut could be compared to a painting by Jackson Pollack in terms of style and delivery. It's spastic, original, and fun, but it seems at times, the band throws all cares of musicianship and lyricism to the wind. It's one thing to be a fun band and another to be a fun band with depth. I think with more work and some tightening in terms of song structure, Dr. Manhattan could be the biggest band in the scene. However, until that happens, they'll have to work hard to build a solid following, but something tells me it won't take much to get the public's attention and hold it for quite some time.


*Written By: James Shotwell*
Grade: 7/10
MYSPACE