dd/mm/yyyy - Black Squares

Obscure, impossible to pronounce band name? Check. DIY silk-screened artwork? Check. Non-sensical song titles like Infinity Skull Cube? Check. I won’t lie, upon first glance, I wrote this band off as mere hipster dance-rock. Boy, was I wrong. This Toronto band is likely to be the last thing you’ll hear playing in American Apparel. DD/MM/YYYY combine sophisticated musicality with an aesthetic that brings to mind Fort Thunder bands like Lightning Bolt and Arab on Radar. Jagged, impossibly catchy rhythms lay amidst zig-zagging synths and quirky guitar parts. And yet, instead of sounding overly pretentious and alienating, DD/MM/YYYY manage to imbue a dreamy-yet-subtle pop sensibility into their music that is inviting to those who are perhaps a little less adventurous in their listening.

Published in Volume 63, Number 20 of The Uniter (February 12, 2009)

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