Urban Honking

Friday, April 1

8:30pm Jeffrey Jerusalem @ Holocene

Holocene presents…
Dom
Heavy Hawaii
Jeffrey Jerusalem
DJ Copy
New Dadz DJs

Holocene presents…
Dom
Heavy Hawaii
Jeffrey Jerusalem
DJ Copy
New Dadz DJs

Fun-loving warped-pop rockers Dom bring the party to Holocene!

ADVANCE TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT BROWN PAPER TICKETS, PORTLAND MERCURY, AND JACKPOT RECORDS.

While many bands suffer with identity crises, Worchester, Massachusetts four-piece Dom has their priorities straight. “We want to be the Lady Gaga of garage rock,” proclaims Dominic, the 23-year-old mastermind behind the buzzed-about twisted-pop rockers, who have stampeded into music world consciousness like a herd of irritable rhinos.

If it seems like Dom just came out of nowhere, that is because they did. In December 2009, Dominic (who goes by Dom, and will not reveal his last name, due to “owing people lots of money”) met drummer Bobby in a Massachusetts boarding house. The two sought out to make Dom an “electronic sci-trance project” but after writing the song “Jesus,” the band took a more garage pop sound. Later, they connected with bassist Erik and guitarist Cosmo, and the finished project sounded more like a jangle pop mixtape left on your dashboard on hot summer day. With warped vocals, fuzzy low-fi distortion, and broken Casio keyboard lines, Dom filters a DIY aesthetic through the upbeat, sunny rhythms of pop music. There’s a MacGyverized style to Dom buzzed-about debut EP Sun Bronzed Greek Gods, the seven songs feel like they’re held together by sonic duct tape. At any minute they could break apart. But they don’t. These tracks recorded in Erik’s bedroom–on a pink paisley guitar, a Casio and Fruity Loops–are solid, edgy and irresistibly fun. “We like to get gnarly, but that doesn’t mean we’re a joke,” Dom says.

By March 2010 they were playing frenzied basement shows on the East Coast, and by April DOM was featured as a rising band on tastemaking music site, Pitchfork. Then the buzzing began….

“Their demo-level production, surf-rock licks, cavernous reverb, and “psychedelic sampling elements”– as the singer described it in a Craigslist ad recruiting band members last December– might lead some people to align the group with chillwave. But their arena-size choruses, actual drummer, and overall don’t-give-a-fuck spirit put Dom in a category of their own. In truth, the majority of their tracks are closer in tone to the female-fronted college-rock bands that hailed from their home state in the 90s, relying less on consumer synths than fuzzed-out guitars, revving bass, and lockstep drums. The phrase “do it yourself” gets thrown around a lot, but “do your own thing” is a better goal, and Dom both embody and challenge that ideal.” – Pitchfork