This is my first review so I'll give it my best shot...
Dog Fashion Disco, when I first heard this band they blew my mind and almost instantly became one of my favorite bands. They are a unique brand of Heavy Metal that blends in many genres and sounds such as Jazz, Lounge, and Circus tunes. When I first heard these guys I thought they were pretty orignal but then I found out their sound was influenced heavily from Mr. Bungle. Even so, they are heavier and still have a pretty fresh and heavy sound to them.
The singer, Todd Smith, has such a great voice for this type of music...when he screams it's very hard to duplicate. When he whispers or does anything else with his voice it goes perfectly with the musical madness behind him, whether it's a psychedelic circus beat or a jazzy interlude or just heavy metal. The vocals are definately one of the main factors that make up the sound of this band.
The guitar for the most part consists of heavy power chord rhythms but still manages to change it up for the different genre leaps. The guitar definately knows how to play his instrument. Altough not amazing, it is heavy and once again blends in with the sound that is Dog Fashion Disco and will have you wanting to get up and go crazy.
The bass, when not being overpowered by the guitar, gives the band a nice jazzy influence and mangages to be heard the majority of the time. While the drums back up with an interesting beat for every song. The drummer is pretty talented thats for sure.
The Keyboards are what made me love this band so much. They add so much to the bands sound that they would probably a lot more stale without them. My favorites are the goofy circus beats. A very talented keyboardist that completes the band's sound
"Anarchists of Good Taste" was Dog Fashion Disco's first studio album released on a record label. The three previous Albums were self-released. This is probably their heaviest album and possibly the best. I'll go ahead and do a track by track...
1. Leper Friend -- This song starts off the album with four cymbal beats and then explodes into a heavy rhythm. This song is a very heavy song and sets the tone for what is to come on the rest of the album. Great keyboards and great musicianship overall. The creepy carnival interlude is just one highlight of this great song. They filmed a music video for this song as well and its....insane, to put simply. 5/5
2. 9 to 5 At the Morgue -- This song once again features a great keyboard rhythm during the verse. A very creepy dark song about working at the morgue (obviously). After these first 2 songs you probably already realized this band is pretty evil in the things they sing about, and their music matches it. 4.5/5
3. Mushroom Cult -- quite a few people confuse this as a System of a Down song featuring DFD, when its the other way around. This song features the lead singer of SOAD, Serj Tankian. This is of course, a good thing. This song just plain out rocks. The name of this song eventually became the name of the band's fanbase. Yet another great song on a so far mostly flawless album. 5/5
4. Antiquity's Small Rewards -- This is where the quality of the songs finally start to falter a little. This song is somewhat boring, even though in the end it has all the things that the first three tracks had. The chorus is great, but the verse brings it down somewhat, and also the guitar sounds somewhat bland. 3/5
5. Headless -- The album quickly comes back with this creepy peice of work. The lyrics very straightly talk about some madman stalking his victim down to California to kill him. There is a nice guitar part in the bridge that is a nice change from the bland power chords. Great keyboards as usual. The rhythm section is excellent as well. The vocals on the song soar in my opinion. When he sings the line "I won't rest until you're headless...", it's very catchy and will probably be stuck in your head. 5/5
6. Corpse is a Corpse -- This is a very heavy song with power chords throughout most of the song. But the guitar stops during the verse and we get to hear the bass rhythm which is a nice change up before the song gets too bland. The keyboards are actually kind of 'meh' as this song is focused on the heavy guitar. In fact, I dont think there is hardly keyboard in it :( 3.5/5
7. Valley Girl Ventriloquists -- The guitar in the begining is pretty bland but don't skip this song because it's pretty good. This is the album's shortest song and its still 3 1/2 minutes long. After the first verse this song gets much better. The keyboards get a welcome return. There is a cool cowbell beat in this song during the part when he sings one of the coolest lines ever written..."Don't fall asleep or we'll mutilate your genitals". Following that is the first real Jazz breakdown on the album. Saxophone and all. From then on it's old DFD madness. 4/5
8. Pour Some Urine On Me -- Not only are DFD song subjects very twisted they can be pretty sexual. This is a pretty weird sexual song. It talks about robots and urine and other weird stuff. It has one of my favorite beats on this album, during the first verse. It just sounds crazy. This song is 6 minutes long and it basically features everything DFD has, from crazy heavy metal beats to goofy circus tunes and more jazz. great tune. 5/5
9. Vertigo Motel -- When you first listen to this song it will probably make you go "WTF?". I know thats what happened to me. Already through 8 tracks and you think you heard the zaniest stuff this band has to offer... but no. This is probably the weirdest song on the album. It starts out mellow with a nice piano tune and it sounds like this song is going to be a ballad of some sort. But then the distortion kicks in and all of a sudden an 180 degree turn for the verse that is so goofy sounding you'll definately make some sort of face. Then for the chorus it breaks back to the heavy and has a nice headbanging rhythm. About halfway into the song there is a random breakout of jazz with a nice sax solo. This is definately one of the standout tracks of the album. Pure insanity. 5/5
10. Cartoon Autopsy -- The album name comes into play within the lyrics of this song "We are anarchists of good taste, we are terrorists of untruths..." Not much to say about this song except that it's another good track with the basic ingredients of a DFD song...headbangin rhythms, good keyboards, and some zany parts here and there. 4/5
11. Pink Riots -- This song has a slow build up to it. But it eventually get's going into a cool tune. A great chorus with yet another memorable line that you'll defibately be singing: "The city is alive tonight" The beginning of this song drags but the second half gets much better. 3.5/5
Pros:
- Great vocals and lyrics
- Great keyboards
- The rhythm section is almost always interesting
- Great headbanging rhythms
- Jazz parts add a lot of depth to the songs.
Cons:
- Guitar parts get bland, as they consist of mostly heavily distorted power chords
- Their sound is definately not for everybody and this is probably their toughest album to get into.
Recommended songs:
"Leper Friend"
"Mushroom Cult"
"Headless"
"Vertigo Motel"
