Dallas - Let's Split
1999
Before blogs, bands still got hyped to death. Estonian band Dallas (big JR Ewing fans, I presume) racked up critical raves throughout 1999, including a spot in the Toronto Star's top ten albums of the year. But the band sat on their hands until 2003 and by then everyone was tired of Stereolab ripoff bands. Well, Dallas wasn't really a Stereolab ripoff, but they certainly drew from the same panoply of influences: jazz, lounge, pop, krautrock, etc. Still, their self-titled third album is a cutout bin surprise, with plenty of good songs and period touches like fuzz guitars, tambourines and canned strings.
Dallas formed in 1992, one year after Estonia gained independence from the Soviet Union. They released a few singles, an EP, and two albums before signing to American label High Park records to release the much lauded Dallas. The primary songwriters were keyboardist/vocalist Holger Loodus and guitarist Tauno Pääslane, but others were involved, especially vocalist Kristi Kindel who can be heard on "Let's Split" and pretty much every other song on the album.
Click here to buy the album from CD Baby.
PS: This is NOT the band's website.
2 comments:
Do you ever know what happened to the band after that album? I came across the CD in my music collection and put it on. Great band. Funny, I had the CD for years and never listened to is that much.
They made a second album, named Delay Lama. Decent stuff. Holger Loodus has since gone on to form the band Mirabilia.
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