To all but those with their ear firmly planted on the pulse of the indie rock underground,
Dummy's debut album from 2021,
Mandatory Enjoyment, was a pleasant, very welcome surprise. A finely shaken cocktail of indie pop melodies, noise rock experimentation, and dreamy shoegaze, the band sounded like a strong link in the chain that started late in the alternative epoch with
Stereolab and
Broadcast. That album didn't just burst into being fully formed; the band released two EPs in 2020 that showed them working out the kinks and figuring out a direction. Both are collected on
Sonic Cathedral's
Dumb E.P.s collection and are an educational treat for those who discovered the band with
Mandatory Enjoyment. At this early point in their existence, they were already quite adept at cranking out noise pop confections like "Angel's Gear" that deliver woozy sugar highs, perfectly blending sparkling synths and metronomic rhythms ("Avant Garde Gas Station"), and on "Thursday Morning," drifting peacefully through almost painfully pretty dream pop ballads. The sound and approach here isn't too far off from the album, though it does lack the polish and low-end kick it exhibits. Along with these precursors to where the band was heading are some roads not taken. The lo-fi psych of "Folk Song," the lengthy ambient instrumental "Touch the Chimes" and the avant-garde, almost new age "Second Contact" are all examples of this, though many of the aspects of these songs were woven into the band's overall sound on the album. The collection is a fascinating glimpse of
Dummy's early developmental stages and serves as a nice companion piece to their debut album, and almost as enjoyable in its own less-focused way. ~ Tim Sendra
