The Dopamines - Soap and Lampshades

I'm embarassed that I'm so late in getting on The Dopamines bandwagon. I saw them for the first time at this year's Insubordination Fest, with a Campbell-kid grinning Mikey Erg playing second guitar. Braving the near continuous barrage of thrown beer rained on our heroes for the duration of their twenty minutes of glory, the Dopamines tore the hell out of the small room at Sonar. Jon W continues the fine tradition of smart-ass Midwestern bassists and the whole enchilada ingratiates me to the point that I'd say Dopamines are my favorite punk rock trio. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the power trio is the best format for the punk rock. When it's done right (see: Minutemen, Husker Du, Jawbreaker) there is nothing finer to hear. Soap and Lampshades is only six songs, five of which fail to break the 1:30 mark. Think the best Copyrights tunes cut in half. The closing title track proves to be their Reoccuring Dreams, breaking the 3:00 mark and the spirits of a lot of shitty bands with a Jawbreaker-y banger. It's all over in just a hair over 9 minutes, but brevity aside, no one with ears should be without Soap and Lampshades. Pick it up from the good folk of Cold Feet Records here. They'll be in Europe for the better part of October, returning in time for The Fest. Keep track of all things Dopamine here.

R