My Divider
Dinosaur Bones
My Divider
I first heard Dinosaur Bones on a fluke, playing in the Indie Lounge in Indianapolis after a screening of Another Year. (I was drinking a $6 Blue Moon and (loved the film, if you're wanting to know all the deets.) My first impression of what I heard was that maybe the guys in The Whigs all had wimpy younger brothers who also formed a band. Never mind that, I ended up intrigued, seeking out the record within a few days.
The record's cover - simple, timeless and cool - also helped sell me on My Divider, the excellently titled new debut record from Toronto's unfortunately named indie rock studs, Dinosaur Bones. Produced by Jon Drew (Fucked Up, Tokyo Police Club, etc.), the 11-track debut reminds instantly of Chavez, but without Matt Sweeney's sometimes-too-big guitar play (blasphemy, I know!). The vibe here is 90s New York indie, where the boys play it cool and fuzzy, warm and detached. A band trying to make accessible songs that Lou Reed would like if Lou Reed liked anything other than Lou Reed.
But, really, my first impression was the one that matters - Dinosaur Bones are a more Canadian - and less lively - version of The Whigs, but with an added layer of cool guy drone. It all works just fine, the result being a record that would've done very well on college radio in 1998, back when cool was still cool and fuzz wasn't always a click away. The non-typical element of sound here (for pseudo-garage stoners, that is), a keyboard, works well enough, though at times it distracts from the faux lo-fi fuzziness more than it aides it. Ben Fox, the singer and lead guitarist, has his eye on American pubs, writing the kind of late night songs the hipster kids love to hear after a few very expensive craft beers wear off - the kind of songs they play at places like The Indie Lounge, made perfect for post-Das Racist dance-offs.
Me? Well, I can't call this a bad record, but hearing it after watching Another Year, a film about both happiness and unhappiness towards the end of life, made for a strange juxtaposition. My Divider is the kind of record that young guys make - and listen to - and feel is important. It's also the kind of record that older ears (29+, in rock terms) find overly derivative and, at best, a form of pleasant nostalgia. While the songs are generally pleasing and Fox and friends seem to have good intentions, My Divider just isn't the kind of record that will last. It's New Era bar band music, sans the strange appeal of bands like The Hold Steady and The Black Lips. But hey, today's youth generation (mostly kids who hear everything and get to know almost nothing) may just love it. You know, in between Tweets, then on to the next new thing. As always, thanks for the effort, Canada, but The Whigs (an already incredibly ignored band) have it covered. 6/10
Written by G. William Locke
