reviews / 2007

DIRTY PROJECTORS - Rise Above

Name: DIRTY PROJECTORS – Rise Above
Item: Rise Above
Rating: 5
Author: Ciro Frattini

2007 (Dead Oceans)

alt-rock, songwriter

by Ciro Frattini

Young Dave Longstreth had finally managed to channel his talents onto a fully realized path. A success with only a handful of devotees, the lopsided operetta "The Getty Address" staked out some decidedly unusual coordinates. He wasn't content with that precarious balance; fresh inspiration came from revisiting a great love and a great classic, "Damaged" by Black Flag.

Indeed, because the new Dirty Projectors album, "Rise Above", is a deeply personal rereading of the old punk masterpiece. Longstreth takes ten tracks and molds them into his own style, drawing inspiration from them rather than covering them outright ("Thirsty And Miserable" becomes a sly, unsettled ballad). The lyrics remain, though they take on an entirely different flavor.

In practice, always under the banner of deconstruction, the album tries to fuse an avant-orchestral soul with guitar-bass-drums inserts; on top of that, a certain soul tension is often layered in, especially in the vocal delivery. The result leaves the material's straightforwardness far too weakened ("What I See"; "No More"); potential singles end up scattered and diffuse ("Depression"; "Gimme Gimme Gimme").

The many ideas scattered here and there only come into sharp focus on the lovely title track, an open-hearted soul ballad.

Longstreth let ambition eat him alive.

Ride the wave of great music

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11/09/2007

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Ciro Frattini, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition