Al SmithIt’s often easy to brush past new bands after a few songs without giving them a second thought. This cannot be said for Dumb. With one EP to their rapidly growing name, Dumb jumped out of my speakers and grabbed me from the outset. Their gritty style of guitar coupled with rugged vocals create a loud confident sound. Yet it manages to stop shy of being too arrogant and aggressive.
The rising band originated in Birmingham and have burst onto the scene with their new EP Chew Me Up, Spit Me Up which was released on the 18th of August 2014. The band’s videos boast an atmosphere of the 90’s, complete with pin rolled jeans, baggy shirts and unkempt hair in an outlandishly fashionable way which gives an indication to their style – fantastically bold. The crown jewel of the 5 track EP, Retina, is guitar heavy from the intro, yet the band manages not to hide behind this, and both lyrics and vocals match the quality of the sound.
The second track on the Ep, Dive, is a lot softer than its predecessor but it shows the band have a depth and range to work with, always a positive for up and coming musicians. After listening to the third track I’m Still Stuck, it occurred to me that Dumb are reminiscent of the Courteeners in style of play but have put their own label on it. This is exactly what you want from an indie group, which will hopefully breathe new life into a genre that has been plagued by recent bland bands and boring songs.
With follow up tracks Super Sonic Love Toy and Two Bottles also hitting the spot (admittedly with less power than the first three), one things for sure. If Dumb continue to produce music like this recent EP, a whole lot more people will have heard of them by 2015.
To listen to the EP visit their You tube channel: