When some promo info comes through describing a band as “stoner/prog/Goth/punk”, you wonder if they’re just all over the place or if they’re hard to pigeonhole because they don’t want to be boring.
Dearly Beloved fall firmly into the second camp. With all genre influences proudly displayed, they should do well to satisfy fans of many styles of music and perhaps introduce them to others.
They’ve just released their second album, Enduro, following on from their debut release in 2012. Hawk vs Pigeon was well-received by all s and if Enduro is anything to go by then I’m not surprised.
Its mix of styles leads to some unusual opposites working together – punk and stoner? Fast and furious meets “just chill out, man”? Surprisingly, yes. Some tracks are like down-tuned punk; fast in pace but with a less trebly tone than you may be used to from pure punk outfits (title track “Enduro”). Others overlay more prog sounds on top of a frenetic drum track (“Astor DuPont Payne”, which also has little funky breaks).
Personal pick for me is the more straightforward punk sound of “Seven Plagues” which is probably the fastest track on the album but still very much bass-led.
The near-experimental sound means that there’s a wealth of diversity on the album. To get a feel for it, you really have to listen and there’s a sample below in the shape of “Olympics Of No Regard”.
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