i love a band that aren’t afraid to sound like their record collections, and given that the dragons main players are men with history, (dark star, and levitation i believe) then you just know that they are making music that delves into their own personal hormonally charged experiences.

in fact, if a band choose wisely, the copyright free results are often more enjoyable than the source material from which the pilfering has been perpetrated. which in the case of dragons, is very nearly the case.

basically, the entry point for devotion to this band has to be a love of all things epic and dark.

across the debut album we get pummelling peter hook bass lines, depeche mode styled bombast, gothic guitars that reach for the outer limits of your leeds postcodes, and a deep bad mood male vocal that cements the atmospheric mood with a glut of irony and hidden smiles.

the reference points are blaringly obvious : sisters of mercy give the underlying throb of condition it’s urgency, the cult (she sells sanctuary era) guitar lines are littered here and there, and i suspect that there are depeche mode fans finding the seedy obedience a fine time waster until their heroes deliver a new album.

while the magpie nature of the ten tracks on offer by dragons may deter those wanting originality, i have to admit, set in amongst the current glut of happy go lucky indie pop that’s filling the racks, this album is a perfect bad tempered antidote, especially when just as you begin to become weary of the monochromatic nature, the mood is lightened slightly by the stadium enormity that is lonely tonight that will have people in rapture given the right setting.

beautifully seductive dark music for the teenage misfits that have yet to venture into the dusty archives.

 

more detail : here (official site) — here (myspace)