Dahlia Revolt

They bring a a sunny ray of daylight into their electronic sound.  Normally I like the dark, brooding shit. That makes you suspect anything that feels too bright and cheery. Yet tracks like Warpaint Sound, Portraits snuck into the regular rotation in my head, made nice and is at home with all the brooding, dark tracks that are the norm. A few Daniels in the Lions den is a great thing. Dang....they even shoveled the sidewalk for Sleeping On The Sun, the same fucking lions! Their genuine sweetness is not too intense. There is a natural space for it to warm to you. Electronic and also warm and organic. Really anyone not liking electronic music is just too willfully Amish. I mean really what the fuck. They just wake you up in this non intrusive, organic yet still addictive way.  Their live set was louder and aggressive in a way I did not expect just glancing on their band page.....well I didn't just glance, I listened for a bit. Loud and robust and I have to really count this live encounter as my first real impression and....pow, nice. Its actually then two separate impressions I get from this band, the recorded work and seeing them live. And here I am happy to weave the two threads into a single cloth. Dahlia Revolt first caught my attention when I looked up what was going on in the parallel world that is Elbo Room.  They are classically trained pianist/producer Mallory Miller and singer-songwriter Adam Reese.  Their debut album is Rooftops and Graffiti. The picture of them both sitting between a descending sun caught my eye.

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  Elbo Room.....to glance in that venue is like checking out who is playing in a parallel, bizarro Chicago, or some other city. People that perform there I rarely see anywhere else. I know perhaps its me creating an artificial distance to make something close and local seem more....exotic, otherworldly, a pocket parallel world. Local bands that I see in every other venue for some reason I don't see there. I don't know if there is a reason for this. The few bands that I have seen there hit me like a ton of bricks and are iconic to me.  I missed that show, but a chance to see them again came around.... anyway, out of that  Chicago venue it seems and into familiar radar is Dahlia Revolt ...... Briefly, I  look up the music and oh, behold they are playing The Whistler.  So I jump at this thing that I've kind of built up in my head and when you miss it the first time it builds more. The CD they had they gave it for free, and I've been listening to it ever since.  They bring a sunny mood that is like smelling fresh rain on grass. How awesome is that. I did not expect or automatically assume I will bring home a CD to listen to.
Zig