“Can you guys do me a favor?”
“Sure.”
“Can you just play one wrong note when you perform? Just one?”
This was overheard after one of Dots Not Feather’s short, finely manicured sets at Picasso’s Coffee House on Main Street Saint Charles, MO. It’s a telling observation: In the shambolic forest of beards and flannel that pervades non-traditional folk music, DNF is the young suitor who comes to the Harvest Festival in a dapper tailored suit, shorn locks, and straight-razored with a carnation pinned to its lapel. This is handsome music, and they’re not afraid to show it.
I tend to gravitate toward bands who drench their Americana in a dense wash of sadness, alcohol, and experimentation. There are no punk roots betraying the dye here- this is hair of a different color. A meticulous sense of craft illuminates the EP which brings to mind, of all bands, Sugar-era Aloha. They also share the aforementioned band’s love for jazz and unorthodox instrumentation, utilizing a synthesizer for the low-end when most bands of this certain milieu would’ve gone for an upright bass. Ravi Raghuram’s buoyant chops contrast brightly with the raw acoustics, adding a veneer to the sound that helps make it more accessible and thoroughly modern. There’s no sense of staunch of old-timey sensibility to these recordings. Continue Reading »
Topics: Come Back To Bed EP, Dots Not Feather, MO, Picasso's Coffee House, Saint Charles
