Dude York “Falling”

Another band with a call name, must be something in the water at the moment. This Seattle trio are promising a tribute to adolescent romance and the pop-punk that proliferated on the FM radio wavelengths of yesteryear.

First song “Longest Time” kind of lulls you into the album. It starts off like a gentle whisper before blooming into one of the sweetest indie pop hits you’d have heard for some time. It then leads you to the full-time indie disco of songs like “Box” and “Unexpected”.

It’s not all just sweetness and light though, there’s a bit of alternative/punk kick to tracks like “I’m the 1 4 U” and “Should’ve”. They’re the kind of spiky indie rock songs that would have made Dude York NME/Melody Maker cover stars ‘back in the day’.

Whilst certainly having an indie/alternative rock feel the band are anything but pedestrian. With “Only Wish” they add in an electronica, almost disco, feel into the mix. The other thing we love is the way that they switch between lead male and female vocals. It allows them to easily slip from the grungier “How It Goes” to the buzzy indie pop of “Let Down” or the more sensitive “Making Sense”.

This is a really smart, indie/alternative album. It reminds us of artists like Juliana Hatfield or Evan Dando. Alternative artists who also have an ear for a melody and know what really makes a good song. Whilst it has us reminiscing of the nineties alternative pop scene it still brings a sense of freshness. Dude York are definitely a band to keep your eye out for.