Deeply rooted in ‘60s harmonies and foreign drum beats, Dinosaur Feathers’ Whistle Tips puts the Brooklyn quartet in line with a recent slew of pop bands who pull inspiration from everywhere and anywhere. Throughout the album the band, led by Greg Sullo, sounds like a modern fuzzy version of the Beach Boys. While so many bands have recently taken to the beach-pop phase, this band knows to push their vibe into a solid state, leaving little room for dreamy sounds.
It’s this fullness that makes the album one of the most solid vintage-influenced ones in the past handful of months. What is so special about the band is that they never feel like pretentious Ivy League pop, and Sullo presents each track in an inconspicuous manner.
Starting with “Young Bucks,” every moment of Whistle Tips is certainly dynamic, but somehow the angular riffs blend into the overall sound and don’t stick out like sore thumbs. That isn’t to say that the guitars aren’t memorable. In fact, “Certain Times” is one of the better tracks because of the punchiness of the strings and not because of the harmonic singing that stands out on track. Immediately following that song is “City Living,” which again has a unique and sharp rhythm that interplays with Sullo and the gang’s long melodic vocal notes.
It’s a formula that doesn’t grow tiring through the 11 tracks and continually pleases until the final note on grimy album finisher “No Man’s Gospel.” That song proves that deeper cuts are worth sticking around for and goes to show how thorough this entire album honestly is.