Search - Dumptruck :: Lemmings Travel to the Sea

The Live Album Is Essential; The Studio Album Isn't Bad

Pop Kulcher | San Carlos, CA USA | 04/18/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"On it's face, it appears like a pretty calculated marketing ploy: Legendary mid-'80's college radio mainstay, after a decade of obscurity, couples newest release with a live album from the glory days to lure back old fans. Which might bother me if the live album weren't so damn great, and the new studio album so... well, pretty good. Dumptruck had three great college radio albums back in the '80's, mixing the mandatory moody jangle-guitar sound (i.e. R.E.M., Connells, Reivers, Guadalcanal Diary, Winter Hours) with some darker lyrics and an alt.country vibe later championed by Uncle Tupelo. The first two albums were interesting and somewhat varied, with founders Seth Tiven and Kirk Swan trading songwriting duties. By the third, Tiven was on his own (though he brought in guitarist Kevin Salem), and the album took on a much poppier, more country-influenced sound. But then they dropped off the map; Tiven released a few more albums under the Dumptruck moniker, but they didn't get much notice. So this time around he opted to couple the album with a bonus live disc from the glory days, combining some CBGB's shows from '86 and '88. As for the studio album -- not bad, not bad. It's got an interesting paisley underground pschedelia to it, along the lines of Dream Syndicate, with plenty of bleakness from the early '70's Neil Young songbook. A few songs get a nice grungey guitar sound going, with a few catchy riffs here and there. It gets a bit dull in places though, most notably the meandering final track, but it's a relatively solid album. The kicker, though, is the live album, which shows the band to be surprisingly tight and effective. The guitars ring and jangle, and the harmonies are sublime. The highlight is a riveting, jangly take on Dylan's "You Ain't Going Nowhere," which blows the better-known Byrds version out of the water; but originals like "Watch Her Fall" and "Nine People" sound great live as well. Bottom line: worth buying just for the live disc (especially since the original studio albums are long out-of-print), and the new studio album is solid enough to warrant some attention on its own merits."

About Time

Scott | MI | 12/31/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Dumptruck is not a band that can be easily appreciated, but to me they are one of the all time greats. The new album is not worth a 5 and neither were Terminal or Days Of Fear, but they need people to buy their work and the live album is fun so if giving it a 5 convinces you to do it I have performed my good deed for the week. A greatest hits album would have been more appreciated especially if it contained most of D Is For Dumptruck the only one of their brilliant first 3 releases never available on CD, but beggars can't be choosers. Dumptrucks gift is to take you into their world of melancholy and the futility of everyday life and make it beautiful. Not exactly the stuff that will sell records, but to those who find a cathartic release in the beauty of even the most mundane of lifes events and personal struggles they are champions. Like I said the first three albums are classics and D Is For Dumptruck is the pinnacle of this artistic highpoint, but do yourself a favor and buy everything they release."