S
omewhere between
Los Angeles and Long Beach, right
about near Inglewood, you will find
a suburb called Hawthorne . It probably
doesn't mean much to an out-of-towner,
but to the four guys in
Dios,
its home.
When I first listened to the self-titled debut of Dios, I could
almost immediately tell that they
hailed from the Golden State. A
powerful mix of folk music and
spacey psych-pop with soothing
vocals will make many think of The Beach Boys. Dios
certainly aren't pegged in same category
as the Boys though; there is a
lot of diversity in this record.
The disc starts off with a humming sound, leading into the first
track, "Nobody's Perfect". The song
has a great mix of a dark undertone
with gentle Neil
Young-esque vocals. The song
paints a picture a sort of sad story
of a regretful past, but the hopes
of a bright future. A gentle guitar and a sort of spacey keyboard
makes me feel like I am in some sort of dream or futuristic vision;
very cool.
The next song, "Starting Five," could be the standout track
on the disc. It's a more upbeat song with a 60's feel. It contains
a jangling guitar and backing vocals;
it's surely one to sing along to. As the disc goes on it does
seem to change from happy to sad quite often, the variety is
certainly there. One minute you seem to be bopping down the street
on a sunny day, and the next minute you are in a dark room with
a candle thinking of what could have been. Or something.
The disc is musically sound to say the least; Joel Morales plays
guitar while his brother Kevin sings.
The brothers seem to compliment
each other like only siblings can.
They certainly are sounding more
and more like the Beach Boys, aren't they? Well not to worry,
because toward the end of the song "50 Cents," Dios actually
break into "You Still Believe In Me" for a hot second!
My favorite song on the disc is "You'll Get Yours," a sarcastic
ballad where Kevin sings, "Fuck all
that shit/I'll stay fit/I don't
want to see your face no more."
It's one of those breakup songs
that doesn't really sound like
one until you sit and listen to
the lyrics.
The disc got more enjoyable with each listen, as it takes a few
time to catch all of the diversity contained within. And after
a while, I almost forgot they might be ripping off the Beach Boys.
Well, either way, they do a damn good job of it.
