Heave Media

Chomping Away

Dr. Manhattan's debut full length album will keep you satisfied.

Dr. Manhattan

Dr. Manhattan

Released on Nov 30, -0001

Illinois natives Dr. Manhattan procure exciting unique music with their new self-titled album. With various EP's and demos released in past years, fans of the band have felt a full length album long overdue; and fans rejoice, Dr. Manhattan has all bases covered. A band that spends every waking second on tour scarcely time for writing and recording a full length, but rest assured, the music and live show deliver the goods. And for those of you with empty pockets, the band has posted much of the album, as well as the video for "Big Chomper, Big Chomper."

The first thing I noticed on my first run-through of the album was the number of songs that band decided to re-record. A total of four songs were featured on one of the bands past EPs, For The Lonely Lest The Wiser. Not to imply this is a bad thing, all the songs are beautifully redone and have a few added twists which are sure to make the old versions obsolete.

The album's premier track "Big Chomper, Big Chomper," reminds us why we liked the band in the first place, with dirty synth leads and profound lyrics, it's an excellent opener. Tracks like "The Party's Opinion" and "Minds Like Ours," which are both remakes, continue Dr. Manhattan's tradition of catchy cleaver hits. Andrew Morrison's keyboard work throughout the album definitely gives it an edge over similar bands in the scene, and shining examples of this can been seen through the album on tracks such as "Gunpowder: A Ballet" and "You Put The I In Team."

"Tracey's Buns" is an exception from the rest of the songs on the album. It would sound to be comprised of only an acoustic guitar and vocals. While I'm sure some girl out there appreciates this song, it wasn't doing a whole lot for me, minus a snicker at the title of the track.

Dr. Manhattan is a rising band with great potential that you should keep an ear on in coming months. They're touring extensively across the US, so chances are that with any luck you should get a chance to see their live act a pick up a copy of this CD.

High Point: The album is composed of clever, catchy lyrics which are sure to get stuck in your head.

Low Point: Some songs feel a bit too overdone.

Quick Point: The band's Myspace has all of their tour dates, as well as several new videos.

Posted by Andrew Scott on Apr 01, 2008 @ 12:00 am