Dios Malos - Dios Malos Album Review

02 November 2005

dios malos
"Dios Malos"
Vagrant
24/10/05

Dios Malos hail from the same neck of the woods that brought the world The Beach Boys, Hawthorne, California to be a little more precise. Originally they were simply called Dios, but another act with a similar name threatened legal action, hence the addition of Malos to their moniker. Amongst their influences they cite everything from Black Sabbath to Run DMC, which goes someway to explaining the band's widely varying output.

This eponymous record opens with "Feels Good Being Somebody Else", which is perhaps best described as sounding like Space, the jesters of Britpop from a decade ago. It's a quirky pop song with a bouncy rhythm that nearly annoys, and couldn't be much different to "Say Anything", which is a gentle acoustic number sung in a delicate fashion. It features what sounds like sleigh bells – so that's the attempt for Xmas number one single sorted. On an album of disparity, country-folk-rock appears at regular intervals, with characteristically inconsistent results. "So Do I" makes you drowsy due to its repetitiveness, while "Tokyo Sunrise" is a sun-kissed instrumental with a highly positive sound.

Shimmering guitars, booming drums and a big chorus all add to "EPK", but it is the piano-tinged verses that are the real charm on one of the brightest moments of the album. Similar to this is "Grrrl", while "I Feel Fine All The Time" could be considered Dios Malos' "Bohemian Rhapsody", as it is littered with changes in tempo and dynamics, though it gets nowhere near the extravagant brilliance of the Queen classic. "My Broken Bones" is the odd track of the collection as it is takes a darker atmosphere and sounds tiresome, but the mood is picked up in "Goin' Home", which has a riff undeniably similar to The Mock Turtles' "Can You Dig It". Despite this borderline plagiarism, it's a brilliant track that is sure to leave a smile on your face, and a highlight of a record that is recommended for anyone searching for something a little bit different.

Alex Lai