Dye It Blonde by Smith Westerns
LABEL: Fat Possum

The Smith Western’s first album, a blast of messy garage glam rock recorded in basements probably overflowing with items of 60’s nostalgia, was a beautifully catchy, reckless mess. With Dye It Blonde, Chicago’s Smith Westerns have upped their production, their songwriting, and their reach—in the process creating an album that doesn’t so much ape the past, as try to surpass it.

“The album is like a love letter to youth, and all the messy and wonderful nights, and parties, and relationships that occur when you’re lost and confused, and still believe anything is possible....”

The first thing you hear on Dye It Blonde (besides the addictively jangly, fuzzy guitars) is how much cleaner everything sounds. For some, this might sound like a drawback—I love tape hiss and distortion as much as the next guy—but they’ve absolutely nailed the transition from the bedroom to the sound room, with all the style and character intact. Everything is lush and expansive, venturing into dream-pop territory, while at the same time not losing any of that dirty immediacy that made their first release so fun.

The album still holds plenty of surprises, however. “All Die Young” opens with a moody pipe organ, noodles around with a slide guitar, and closes with a quasi-Broadway choir section. “Dance Away”’ dips into disco, while here and there an acoustic breakdown or piano part pops out in the best tradition of 70’s power ballads.

What saves Dye It Blonde from sounding like a mishmash of influences (besides the fact that the Smith Western’s are just really, really good) is the authenticity and sort of fresh-faced naiveté with which the songs unfold. The album is like a love letter to youth, and all the messy and wonderful nights, and parties, and relationships that occur when you’re lost and confused, and still believe anything is possible, though you don’t have the first clue about how to start making it happen.

Much has been made so far of the age of the band members, probably rightly so, as none of them are even old enough to buy a beer. That they released two rather fantastic albums this early into their career, unabashedly poppy but full of interesting sonic touches and manoeuvres, is pretty astounding. I have no idea what to expect from them in the future, but especially after a few months touring with the similarly-minded indie-darlings Girls, I imagine what comes next will be very, very good.

“Is this a fantasy/Or I am just lucky?” Lead singer Cullen Omori sings on the albums anthemic closer. The answer, perhaps, is a little bit of both.


REVIEWED BY MAT LINDENBERG

MAT’S FAVORITE TRACKS: “Weekend” • “Only One” “Still New”

   Smith Westerns - "All Die Young" by forcefieldpr

Smith Westerns - Weekend from Fat Possum Records on Vimeo.