Free Energy is a good name for Dummy‘s new album, because it provides plenty of it – usually in the form of reverb and fuzz. The band also seems to have had plenty of it while making their sophomore album, as each of the band members is all over the place and playing multiple instruments throughout it.
“Intro-UB” alone features plenty of bubbling, poppy synth beats and bass, and all four members of the band (Alex Ewell, Emma Maatman, Nathan O’Dell, and Joe Trainor) are all listed on the album’s liner notes as playing synths. O’Dell and Trainor’s guitars crash into the room on “Soonish” that almost overwhelm Maatman and O’Dell’s vocals. The Jesus and Mary Chain-like roar they produce is great. “Unshaped Road” weaves and curves, carrying you along on a psych-shoegaze journey to the cosmic “Opaline Bubbletear” with dreamy saxophone by Cole Pulice.
It drifts into the 1990s synthpop-tinged “Blue Dada” and Maatman singing happy, echoing vocals over soft synths and sped-up hip hop beats. “Nullspace” takes early 2000s Garbage and mixes itwith industrial guitar riffs and dub synths. Speaking of industrial guitar riffs, the ones in “Minus World” sound like they could’ve been recorded in a metal fabrication plant…and yet the vocals are so upbeat that you figure the workers there must have a great union.
The way Dummy effortlessly goes from the grinding rock of “Minus World” to the trippy psychedelia of “Dip in the Lake” is stunning. The jump back to the heavier, faster “Sudden Flutes” isn’t jarring. It feels right. “Psychic Battery” might just levitate you out of your seat. Nine Clean Nails reminds me a bit of Public Practice with its background ghost-like vocals that somehow brighten up a room. The closer, “Godspin,” feels like waking up in your car at a sea side highway rest stop after a long night of driving and seeing the ocean in the emerging daylight.
Dummy said they wanted to go in a more psychedelic direction with Free Energy, and they succeeded. The shoegaze elements are still there, so don’t worry if that’s what you’re seeking, but this new sound is lovely.
Dummy — the Los Angeles band comprised of Alex Ewell, Emma Maatman, Nathan O’Dell, and Joe Trainor — announces its new album,Free Energy, out September 6th on Trouble In Mind Records, and shares the lead single/video, “Nullspace.” Pop has always been a big part of Dummy’s sound, but it manifests differently on Free Energy. Sometimes it’s quite literal (and funny), such as the bubbly synth sequence made with a Korg EM1 popping all over lead single “Nullspace,” which features a melody written by O’Dell and is the song the band calls the record’s “sonic mission statement and really influenced by Mark Van Hoen, especially the cut-up dreamy dance-pop he was making on the Locust record Morning Light.”
Dummy’s debut full-length Mandatory Enjoyment arrived in late 2021 and quickly became one of the year’s sleeper hits. Pitchfork, Bandcamp Daily, Stereogum, Aquarium Drunkard, and other publications praised Dummy’s mix of ambient and twinkly guitar pop, their deep musical references, and the intentionality with which they patchworked it all together. Fans bought copies of Mandatory so quickly that Trouble in Mind couldn’t keep it in stock. Sub Pop Records also invited the band to contribute to their legendary Singles Club series. Bands loved Dummy, too, and the group were asked to open for Horsegirl,Botch, Black Country, New Road, Luna, Spirit of the Beehive, Dehd, Snooper, Sweeping Promises, Snail Mail, and more.
Where Mandatory Enjoyment was cerebral and lo-fi, the product of a lot of time inside, Free Energy is all movement, presence, and physicality. A creatively restless band, Dummy felt like they had done the best version of motorik pop that they could do, and wanted to get harder, dancier, a little more psychedelic. Ewell and Trainor began experimenting with home recording, using DAW as kind of an instrument for composition rather than simply a tool. O’Dell dug deeper into instrumental/sample composition, in addition to contributing more guitar leads. Maatman also steps into the spotlight in a big way, her vocals noticeably foregrounded and confident, adding to the live performance feel that forms the foundation of Free Energy. The result is a record that celebrates music’s ability to move the body, whether that be through a teeth-rattling wall of MBV-esque noise, a sticky pop chorus, or a joyous drum machine—or, if you’re Dummy, maybe all of them in the same song.
Additionally, Free Energy features guest appearances by friends Dummy has played with on tour, including Oakland-based saxophonist and electroacoustic artist Cole Pulice and Jen Powers of Powers / Rolin Duo, along with a series of field recordings the band made while on tour: the rushing of water, the rumbling of the van, indistinct voices, chirping birds; the sounds of mundanity rising to cacophony before petering out, treated no differently than the ecstatic rhythms, explosive hooks, and blissful ambient stretches that came before. If there is any key to understanding what makes Dummy such a compelling band, perhaps it is this: it’s all music to them.
Free Energy Tracklist: 1. Intro-UB 2. Soonish 3. Unshaped Road 4. Opaline Bubbletear 5. Blue Dada 6. Nullspace 7. Minus World 8. Dip In The Lake 9. Sudden Flutes 10. Psychic Battery 11. Nine Clean Nails 12. Godspin
Dummy Tour Dates: Sat. Sept. 7 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room Wed. Sept. 11 – San Francisco, CA @ Kilowatt Fri. Sept. 13 – Portland, OR @ Lose Yr Mind Fest Sat. Sept. 14 – Vancouver, BC @ The Pearl Sun. Sept. 15 – Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s Wed. Sept. 18 – Reno, NV @ Holland Project Fri. Sept. 20 – Sacramento, CA @ Cafe Colonial Sat. Sept. 21 – Oxnard, CA @ Mrs. Olson’s Thu. Oct. 31 – Breda, NL @ Mezz Fri. Nov. 1 – Utrecht, NL @ ACU Sat. Nov. 2 – Groningen, NL @ Vera Sun. Nov. 3 – Nijmegen, NL @ Merleyn Tue. Nov. 5 – Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen Wed. Nov. 6 – Stockholm, SE @ Hus 7 Thu. Nov. 7 – Oslo, NO @ Blå Fri. Nov. 8 – Malmo, SE @ Plan B Sat. Nov. 9 – Berlin, DE @ Synästhesie Festival Sun. Nov. 10 – Warsaw, PL @ Chmury Mon. Nov. 11 – Vienna, AT @ Arena Tue. Nov. 12 – Salzburg, AT @ Rockhouse Wed. Nov. 13 – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F Thu. Nov. 14 – Annecy, FR @ La Brise Glace Festival Fri. Nov. 15 – Dijon, FR @ Le Consortium Sat. Nov. 16 – Rennes, FR @ Kool Thing Festival Sun. Nov. 17 – Clermont Ferrand, FR @ La Coopérative de Mai Tue. Nov. 19 – Marseille, FR @ L’Intermédiare Wed. Nov. 20 – Lyon, FR @ Sonic Thu. Nov. 21 – Bordeaux, FR @ Iboat Fri. Nov. 22 – Angers, FR @ Joker’s Pub Sun. Nov. 24 – Paris, FR @ La Boule Noire Tue. Nov. 26 – London, UK @ Moth Club Wed. Nov. 27 – Bristol, UK @ The Lanes Thu. Nov. 28 – Coventry, UK @ Just Dropped In Fri. Nov. 29 – Newcastle, UK @ The Lubber Fiend Sun. Dec. 1 – Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast Mon. Dec. 2 – Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Pete’s Tue. Dec. 3 – Leeds, UK @ Headrow House Wed. Dec. 4 – Manchester, UK @ Yes Thu. Dec. 5 – Brighton, UK @ Dust
