The Damnwells – Bastards of the Beat

While a young band clawing its way to the top of the club circuit is far from a given, the question of what to do once the stars of chance have aligned is often too difficult for its members to answer. Next to actually learning the craft of writing, recording and performing songs, arriving at some semblance of a unique creative identity has to rank as the most pressing goal on the agenda of a band straining toward credibility. Unfortunately, this also happens to be the most difficult goal to achieve, straddling the tenuous line dividing innovators and imitators. For The Damnwells, Bastards of the Beat is the story of a band searching for its creative identity.

Having ridden a half-wave of hype that placed them somewhere between the next-big-thing in roots rock and the newest version of Wilco-lite, it would seem likely that The Damnwells’ true identity falls somewhere between these two descriptions. Over the course of the two EPs comprising their current recorded catalog, the New York quartet has shown just enough promise and plagiarism to justify the comments of journalists in either camp.

Vocalist Alex Dezen certainly does little to discourage the Jeff Tweedy comparisons, his charcoal croon and earnest phrasing almost welcoming the inevitable with prickly sentiments, acoustic strum and harmonica opening the disc. Having clearly blossomed from the sometimes tentative Americana of their earlier recordings into bolder, more polished sounds, those original elements which encouraged some to believe The Damnwells were auditioning for on-the-verge status (and, incidentally, prompted Epic to offer them a multi-album record contract) are similarly solidified. And if the mélange of ringing organ, cooing horns, and countrified guitar licks of “I’ll Be Around” or the ethereal swirl of “Sleepsinging” are any indication, there might be a couple modest radio hits on the way.