Bang Bang

Album Review

The New England trio Dispatch are back with their second full-length album, Bang Bang, a sharp collection of ten songs that is pleasing on all ends of the musical spectrum, from instruments to vocals to songwriting. Rarely does the record fall into a pattern, and instead Dispatch rotate their sound, from Guster-esque mellowness to the quick style of Sublime. And sometimes they make the transition within the same song. "Bats in the Belfry" is a perfect example of this musical mix, with the trombones and a Sublime-like tempo during the chorus, and a more mellow speed orchestrated perfectly by lead singer Brad Corrigan for the rest of the song. Conversely, the album's next track, "The General," performs the opposite by reserving the mellowness for the chorus and hitting the fast tempo right from the song's onset. The standout song on the album is, in fact, one of the simpler tracks. It's absent the percussion and other ska-influenced sounds that are abundant on the rest of the album. This by no means implies that these sounds don't work perfectly on the record, because they do, but "Two Coins" is special because it's just an acoustic guitar and vocals, in addition to pretty powerful lyrics. The original and ear-pleasing "Two Coins" marks a transition of sorts for the album, as the final three tracks are closer to rock and pop songs than ska songs. "Whirlwind" is far more musically diverse than the stripped-down "Two Coins." At just under five minutes, it's the record's longest track, and well worth the listening time. The album then concludes on a strong note with "Out Loud," which returns to the acoustic guitar in the lead and relies on Corrigan's wonderful voice, creating a song that certainly will be heard by the audience at any of Dispatch's live shows. Dispatch have identified themselves as a mainstay in the music world because of their diverse sound and willingness to experiment. Bang Bang has only allowed them to grow, and they should continue to do so in future efforts. [For the 2004 reissue on Universal Records, Dispatch substituted a 1996 live version of "Out Loud" for the original studio recording and added two bonus tracks: the haunting "The Way It Goes," from the same 1996 concert, and a first-take acoustic version of "Bats in the Belfy" that stretched the key song out to five and a half minutes.]