I first wrote about Damone a little over a year ago. At that point, they had just been snapped up by RCA records after generating a pretty big buzz in the Boston area.
When I first heard about this band from my hometown, I immediately thought the worst. The hype was awful, I mean there was one point where they were in the Waltham newspaper about once a week for a month straight. But my friend Rich re-assured me: "dude, they're good, I've heard them." He had heard them because his sister was good friends with the band's lead singer, Noelle LeBlanc.
The band was originally named after LeBlanc, but shortly before signing to RCA, they changed their name to Damone, after the infamous Fast Times at Ridgemont High character.
Their major label debut album (good luck finding the actual Noelle CD that was put out by the band independently) is 11 songs of pure power pop adrenaline, shot straight through your body and echoing previous great power pop acts like Cheap Trick. Most of the tracks come from the previously mentioned original indy album, with some overdubs and remixing by Tom Lord Alge, one of the best known men in the music business.
The songs were all written by guitarist Dave Pino, former member of the band Waltham (who is about to get featured on MTV 2 themselves by Iann Robinson). As of the moment, Pino has left the band, although it's unclear whether it is permanent. I think it's safe to say though that the decision by Pino had more to do with the band's touring schedule than with his relationship with the other bandmates.
The songs on From the Attic are pure candy. They stick in your head, are eminently hummable, and the content is nothing too big or serious. In fact, I find the lyrics to be the most innocuous part of the band at this point, as they are for the most part rather juvenile and overly-simple, if fun to sing along to.
Pino especially is just on fire here, with ripping solos on tracks like On My Mind. LeBlanc, who on stage hides behind a thick wall of black hair in her face, has an excellent voice for these songs, singing with conviction and passion.
The band is all about Waltham as well, including a map of the city in the liner notes booklet (yes, my street is on there, although not labeled), and a mention of the carwash Pino worked at at one point in the boistrous song Carwash Romance.
Two of the new songs on the disc are two of the best. Driveway Blues is a solid rocker that is put together extremely well, and At the Mall is poppish punk at it's most feisty, despite the overly juvenile lyrics.
Ultimately, this album is more about the band's sound and their potential, and not so much about their lyrics. Surely RCA had to of realized this when they signed a band where a couple of the members aren't even out of high school yet. However, From the Attic is a solid enough debut album for a band that in many ways was an accidental thing to begin with. I'd highly recommend this disc to fans of Veruca Salt or Cheap Trick who are willing to accept something that shows off more in terms of potential rather than payoff. For that reason I'll give it 3 stars and my recommendation. And I wouldn't be surprised at all if RCA got behind this in a big way with any kind of a hint of breakthrough success either.
The band is on the Warped Tour this summer. They put on a great live show and I'd highly recommend seeing them if you're going.
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