Down In The Dumps - Dumps Luck

Yet another member of the highly incestuous Long Island punk scene, Down In The Dumps managed to kick around for a good four years, contributing tracks to split 7"'s with bands like Tiltwheel, and as a member of a four band split, Red & Blue, Potboiler, and Fellow Project. Dumps Luck is the band's sole full length, coming out in 2007 on the incredibly solid Kiss Of Death Records. (Seriously, find me something that label put out that sucks, because I haven't found it yet)

They're far from re-inventing the wheel here, but you'd be a liar to say they weren't completely engrossed with what they did before they broke up in 2008 (forming Get Bent and Jonesin'). All of the usual chords are around, you know, like three or four per song at times. However, I feel that Down In The Dumps stood out from the rest of their Long Island peers in that their sound was decidedly more West Coast influenced. Pinhead Gunpowder and early American Steel seemed to be logical touchstones for these dudes, and hey, if you're going to sound like any bands, those aren't bad ones to start with.

DITD weren't mere ripoff artists though, as there is plenty of creative lead guitar work going on here. Check the stabbing, spiraling riffs that inhabit "Ex-Brothers And Ex-Lovers," or the entire outro of "Raggedy Anne," which could only accurately be described as a riff-fest.

Basically, if you're a fan of punk rock, and you're ever starting to get burnt out on the whole thing, it's good that albums like this exist to remind you why you got into the stuff in the first place. You couldn't scrape an ounce of pretension from this album if you tried. It's nothing that spectacular, but it's more than proficient at what it accomplished.

Oh yeah, this album can be downloaded completely legally from the fine folks over at IfYouMakeIt, who have become somewhat of a clearing house lately for short-lived New York/New Jersey bands. Check out the Pink Couch series while you're there, because it rules.

Down In The Dumps - "Dumps Luck" @ IfYouMakeIt

-Erik