If there is a formula to writing dream-pop songs, then the Saint Louis band Daytime Television has that formula down. The six-piece band is comprised of Ysabel on vocals, Seth on vocals and guitar, Africa on guitar, Kali on synths, Taylor on bass and Mark on drums.
The band’s latest EP offering is Technicolour and it offers up three songs that fit in that dream pop and shoegaze vein that often sounds a bit like a more poppy version of bands like Mazzy Star and My Bloody Valentine. Musically the stuff is pretty hazy and hard rock guitars are layered over with synths and pounding drums, but it’s the vocals that seem to lend the band their pop sensibility. Technicolour opens with the upbeat and fuzzy rocker “Sunkissed.” From the first it’s clear that the members of Daytime Television has done their homework on how dream pop is supposed to work. They know when to amp it up and when to take it down a notch and let the chords ring. They also know how grab a listener with a catchy chorus that has enough hard-hitting rock behind it to really appeal to a very wide audience. But the biggest thing here is that none of them try to steal the spotlight. And by this I mean to say that they each seem to know that a band is a sum of moving parts and that all parts must come in and go off if the song, especially in a genre so dominated by noise, is to sound like something more than just a bunch of people making noise. Speaking of noise Daytime Television know how to do this too, and they do so very well on “Sway” which has a great guitar and synth hooks that give the song a roundness and also a catchiness. It stays with you, rumbling around in your head long after the song is over. There is also the pop element, taken mainly from the vocals which are the perfect tonal accoutrement to the music. There is definitely an ‘80s synthpop leaning on the final track “Slow Motion” which doesn’t have the same absolute power of its predecessors, and comes off as a dreamy, sappy ballad that may work well for more sensitive ears but to me just fell a bit flat. Daytime Television is a relatively young band and they are all immensely talented musicians who know their craft rather well and play together like a band that has been together much longer. They have enjoyed a fair amount of critical success in their hometown and I’m willing to bet that this success will only continue to grow as the band matures over time.
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