Album Review
“Once Upon a Time” by Universal Dice
I hope that Universal Dice’s new album release Misfit Memoirs reaches the largest possible audience. The first two singles from the release, “Curse” and the latest song, “Once Upon a Time”, offer evidence that the Gerry Dantone-led project has reached a new peak. “Once Upon a Time” continues developing the band’s songwriting wont for story-focused art that lacks pretentiousness or self-indulgence. The band’s work thus far is a reassuring reminder that ambitious rock works are still out there and deserve maximum exposure. His ability to realize such ambitions without ever descending into unnecessary pomp sets the band’s work even further away from the status quo.
It isn’t an easy balance to maintain. Rock music, reaching back decades, is rife with examples of ham-fisted marriages between ambition and accessibility. Songwriters guilty of overreach have drug potentially great works down with overwrought tendencies. Gerry Dantone’s songwriting avoids such pitfalls. “Once Upon a Time” has an intimate climate. It gives individual listeners the impression that Universal Dice is performing for them alone. The development of the songwriting reinforces this.
Dantone wisely employs a first-person point of view for the lyrics. It gives “Once Upon a Time” storytelling attributes that prod listeners to hang with every word. He sketches out the details with broad strokes focused on significant details rather than weighing down the writing with needless adornments. It is impossible to say for sure without knowing more, but the single comes across as if the words and music came together. I think Dantone began the process with a clear idea of what he wanted the song to say.
It is a certainty that makes the listening experience such a pleasure. There’s surefooted confidence present in each second of this four-minute-long track. However, it isn’t ever strident, and the mid-tempo unfolding of the performance has a calm and considered demeanor. This prevailing mood drew me deeper into its storytelling web. It inspired faith in Dantone’s artistry from the start, and he never gave me a reason to reconsider.
The lyrical brevity underlines the aforementioned certainty. Dantone doesn’t waste a single word in the writing of this track, and his word choices do not disappoint. “Once Upon a Time” pulls no punches. It fleshes out an unforgiving world that Dantone’s sensitive vocal tempers with its thoughtfulness. We experience the emotions present in the song’s words rather than consuming them on a strictly intellectual level.
One of the hallmarks of Universal Dice’s work is the striking balance it maintains between the mental and physical. Dantone and his bandmates have made a name for themselves serving up stimulating musical landscapes capable of moving or entertaining their audience. The lyrical content and concepts are icing on an especially delectable cake. Intelligence and depth distinguish each new outing, and “Once Upon a Time” is no exception. It’s more evidence, if needed, that Universal Dice’s new album Misfit Memoirs will likely rank as their finest collection. We’re lucky to have such meaningful music in times like this, and I hope there’s more to come.
Stacey Winter
Album Review
Girlhood find clarity in complicated connections with “This Will Make Sense In The End” (album)
Relationships are an emotional contradiction, and Girlhood’s fourth album, “This Will Make Sense In The End,” navigates the contradictions of love, attraction, disappointment, and personal growth. Singer-songwriter Natalie Holmes has delivered a pop album that explores that line between wanting to connect and knowing when to protect yourself.
The album’s ten tracks provide a thoughtful exploration of relationships with food, often as a metaphor for emotional hunger, control, intimacy, and the desire to feel whole. It’s an album that’s about exploring uncomfortable relationship dynamics while keeping personal discovery in sight. It starts with “It Could Be Worse,” and it’s about the exhaustion and bitterness of an unbalanced relationship. It’s about the slow realization that wanting more isn’t unreasonable.
The lead single “Lemon Aid” is an intriguing balance of external playfulness and internal frustration, and it is all the brighter for the emotional pressure. “Picnic” takes a generally happy setting and uses it to explore the negotiations and power dynamics that can lurk just beneath the surface of a relationship. Attraction is also explored on the album, and the difficult area of physical desire as opposed to a real emotional connection.
“Cracked” is about the intoxicating allure of a toxic situationship and owning your confidence and sensuality. “Island to Island” also explores the confusion that can happen when physical chemistry feels like the start of something deeper. “Straight at the Bar” is about wanting to be accepted for who you are, not for who someone else wants you to be. “Silver Lining” touches on both mental and physical health, while “Born Hungry” pays tribute to life’s opportunities and the need to let go of toxic attachments.
The final song, “Wouldn’t Change a Thing,” is reflective, taking the record into a space of self-love, acceptance, and appreciation for one’s past. “This Will Make Sense In The End” is defined by the tension between desire and control. Girlhood is about finding perfect love and learning not to lose yourself in the search.
Album Review
The Pink Diamond Revue create their own musical universe on “At The Discotheque” album
“At The Discotheque,” a decade-in-the-making album, blends vintage musical influences with forward-facing electronic experimentation. The album fuses 1950s rock ‘n’ roll, vintage blues, surf guitar, synth-punk, acid house, and electronic music into a sound defined by contrast. It looks to musical history while finding new possibilities in modern production.
The album kicks off with “She Is,“ introducing ACiD DoL, the artificial female mannequin that is the band’s frontwoman and central visual figure. “The Fuzz Guitar“ combines classic rock sounds with modern electronic production, while “Portable Radio“ transforms retro transistor radio broadcasts into rhythmic loops.
Elsewhere, “The Ton Up Boy” winks at 50s and 60s British motorcycle culture, adding another dimension to the album’s retro underpinnings. The Pink Diamond Revue also ventures into more experimental and darker territory. “Acid Dol“ delves into the darker side of the mysterious figurehead with industrial bass and fierce electronic rhythms, and “Lux“ conjures a hypnotic atmosphere with smoky club visuals and psychedelic textures.
The title track, “At The Discotheque,” shines a light on the dancefloor as a space of freedom, escape, and musical expression. The tracks “Go Go Girl,” “Way Out,” and “Microdot” take that energy even further, with space-rock influences, rave-inspired rhythms, and gritty industrial sounds.
“Final Meal Request“ feels like something out of a classic horror or noir film, and the three versions of “Milkshake“ each present a different aspect of the band’s sound, ranging from blues-rock to psychedelic dub to atmospheric reverb. “At The Discotheque” feels more like an exploration of musical eras, giving the project its own identity, and keeps the album moving between the familiar and the unexpected.
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