As the Christian ska fad lurches into its 14th minute of fame, it's easy to give plaudits to any band willing to position itself outside the skinny-tied juvenalia that has usually accompanied the late '90s brass-bound punk-in-sheep's clothing. On that note, Southern California's Dingees score beaucoup points: They are one of a dwindling number of outfits that eschew kiddie-humor lyrics while deftly aligning themselves closer to The Specials than No Doubt. The band's sophomore outing, Sundown to Midnight, is a pastiche of both buoyant reggae rhythms and traditional punk rants.
The band finds its greatest success with the former, their adequate acquitting of the latter being marred by a lack of melodic sensibility. When resting within the lazy bounce of syncopated rhythm ("Trial Tribulation") The Dingees sound just a shade shy of legit. Give credit to the band for incorporating horn charts sparingly, and for refusing to kowtow to the altar of maximum volume.
The Dingees don't just crib the musical posturing of the early ska movement; Sundown to Midnight attempts the same social concern that gave pulse to seminal bands like The Clash and The Specials. The record works as both a youth rallying call ("Leave the Kids Alone," "Radio Freedom"), and a pointed chronicling of the activities that occur after the hours mentioned in the title (urban violence being chief among them). The Dingees don't offer any solutions, choosing instead to wax observational: When you're walking through my city, gotta duck and dive/ 'cause in my city, bullets fly is less protest than Polaroid. It is perhaps because of this sense of detachment that there is very little to make Sundown to Midnight especially exciting; for all its street smarts and tight musicianship, what the record lacks is the vitality of the late '70s Two-Tone recordings. This makes Sundown a sort of paint-by-numbers experience: the picture is pretty enough, but the process is distressingly predictable.
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #79Reviewed by Doug Van PeltThis new Dingees album has all the ingredients you expected great melodic yet bratty vocals, nice songs, and fun lyrics. Thrown in are some ska upbeats (a la Squad Five O) and the occasional horn ("Votes and Violence"). Last year's Armageddon Massive had a little hotter sound in places (mostly the guitars). It's hard to critique this album, as it's all over the place. "Trial Tribulation" is…