Awesome New Dappled Cities LP Art

Almost as cool at that freaky Lemonheads sleeve...

By Blurt Staff

BLURT faves Dappled Cities have their latest album Zounds set to drop on Sept. 15 courtesy Dangerbird. We've heard it - that shit rocks our world. And glom onto the album cover art, above - no doubt it'll be in the running for fave sleeves of the year when year-end lists start hitting.

The band's been touring steadily over the past couple of years, promoting their second album Granddance, issued by Dangerbird in 2006. And the band nicely dodged "the Australian curse," i.e., Aussie bands that do great in their homeland but don't do squat over here, notching critical acclaim and playing to generally receptive crowds while sharing bills with the likes of the Fratellis and Tokyo Police Club.

During this time, founding member Hugh Boyce retired and was replaced by Allan Kumpulainen on drums, while touring keyboardist Ned Cooke was instated as a full-time member. The rest of the band: David Rennick, Alex Moore, Tim Derricourt.

According to the band, "After Granddance, there were great expectations for Zounds - from us and also from the US label. That pressure turned this into the longest and most intense episode of our life. We didn't cut corners and we went to great lengths to keep chaos developing."

Hooking up with producer Chris Coady (TV On The Radio) the group settled into a New York studio in an attempt to capture their ferocious live show in the studio. The band also didn't always see eye-to-hi fi with Coady. Rennick explains, "He's the biggest name we've worked with and he knew it, so a lot of the recording process was injected with clashes. Artistic differences? Perhaps. But maybe we just knew, and expressed, what we wanted so strongly that it may have been tough for others around us to take at the time. Who knows?"

Regardless, the resulting disc is a dynamic, artful, multi-hued gem. Watch BLURT for a full review right around release date. Enjoy that record sleeve!

Tracklisting

Hold Your Back

Answer Is Zero

The Price

Wooden Ships

Slow For Me, My Island

The Night Is Young At Heart

Miniature Alas

Don't Stop There

Kid

Middle People

Apart

Stepshadows