in Review

Tony Molina – Dissed And Dismissed

Considering summer officially starts this weekend, I think we can agree that 2014 has been pretty crappy at producing “summer albums”.  Sure, there have been some quality albums that have come out in the months leading up to summer, like that Lykke Li record or the newest Sharon Van Etten.  But considering I’m not looking to sprinkle my summer nights with the sounds of women earnestly singing about their doomed relationships, I’ve put those ones on the backburner for now.  Then there’s that new Parquet Courts album, which might be a good summer album if it wasn’t for the fact that much like the last Parquet Courts album, there’s one track on it I love and then a bunch that I’m merely fine with.  So it’s been a nice little surprise discovering this pop-infused sideproject from hardcore vet Tony Molina, which came out in March but feels like prime listenin’ for this time of year.

Now, the only problem with labeling Dissed And Dismissed as a “summer album” is that it’s 11 minutes long, which begs the question of whether this even qualifies as an album at all.  I mean it’s probably shorter than most EP’s, although its track count of 12 songs could also make a case for it’s credentials as an album.  But regardless of whatever Dissed and Dismissed is, it’s really easy to listen to over and over again.  At first, I found it a little hard to get into the rhythm of these songs (all of which run somewhere between 42 seconds and a minute and a half), since it kinda seems like once each song gets going, it’s immediately over.  But I think that “leave them wanting more” approach undoubtedly works in Dissed And Dissmissed‘s favor, as it keeps you grasping for each little tasty nugget it gives you.

And apart from the whole “is this even an album?” schtick that Dissed And Dismissed has going on, I’m mostly enamored by it having a sound that’s firmly placed in the middle of my musical sweet spot.  As I said earlier, Molina has been doing stuff in a bunch of San Francisco hardcore bands that I haven’t heard of, but this is more reminiscent of a louder take on power-pop.  A lot of the time, it reminds me of Pinkerton-era Weezer, which is more than welcome considering Weezer have spent far too little of their career sounding like Pinkerton-era Weezer.  There are also a bunch of sweet Thin Lizzy licks that Molina likes to throw in every once in a while, which makes for an “album” that kicks some ass while also getting stuck in your head at incredibly brief intervals.

Favorite Tracks: “Change My Ways”, “Don’t Come Back”, “The Way Things Are”