Dirty on Purpose--Hallelujah Sirens

The sirens emitted by the Brooklyn four-piece Dirty On Purpose fuzz genre lines, and confound any description of them. It’d be easy to pass them off as shoegaze-this or indie-that, and even easier to claim that they’re something like an unholy child of Of Montreal, Yo La Tengo, Headphones, and a bit of U2. That would be foolish though, especially if those band names mean nothing to you. A better way to describe Dirty on Purpose would be to say that they are a perfect blend of shoegaze, indie, pop, and the weirdest dream you’ve ever had.

Dirty on Purpose incorporates brass, pianos, strings, and dreamy vocals masterfully into their songs, along with the standard rock gear. Interestingly, guitars take the back-seat on much of the album, letting the brass, strings, piano, and even bass take the lead. In addition, the guitars usually stay fairly soft and light for the most part, making them the perfect complement to the high and fluffy feeling vocals. Yet when the song falls into the long awaited guitar solo, Dirty on Purpose edges in on shoegazing, employing dreamy effects and masterful guitar playing. "Monument" is a gem of an instrumental song, and could be thrown into the shoegaze bin without a second thought.

"Your Summer Dress" represents the other extreme of the album then, a soft-spoken hopeful melody that feels like summer. Dual vocals meld with overlapping guitar riffs create a warmly beautiful song. "Lake Effect" is soft as well, but is instead drenched in melancholy. Haunting strings wrapped around a subtle piano melody make the song peaceful and reflective, yet sad. A common theme in the lyrics is found here "Better to go far way away / Better to back up your threats than stay / You wanted to go far away."

This theme is found again in the song that truly brings together the softer pieces and the shoegaze influences, "Light Pollution." The lyrics speak again at leaving, going away, "Take the long way home / Take the wrong roads." This reflective and weary style is mixed with shoegaze melodies and heavily warped guitars, wrapping into a style that hints at U2 and pop.

Dirty on Purpose has taken the best of shoegaze, softer indie, and pop and has mixed them all together to create a dreamy, hopeful, melancholy, and just plain brilliant album that defies easy description, and will gain a new one from every listener.

(Published at ComfortComes.com)