Dominant Legs

Young at Love and Life EP

(Lefse)

Record Review by Adam McKibbin

You know when you’re in a band that’s starting to pick up steam, and you quit that band to spend some time on your own songs, but then another band approaches you, except this band becomes even bigger than the first band – in fact, becomes quite the toast of blogtown for a while?  Don’t you just hate that?  Such is the situation for Ryan Lynch, the former Magic Bullets guitar whose plans to do his own thing as Dominant Legs were somewhat disrupted when he joined Girls, whose debut album (called Album) was one of the better-reviewed albums of 2009. 

Girls certainly tapped into the zeitgeist – at least the indie zeitgeist – and Album still has plenty of lo-fi pop charm.  Since art isn’t a competition (perish the thought),it’s probably irrelevant to report that I’ve spent more time with their four-song EP than I did with any four songs on Album.  Hopefully Lynch continues to find the time to follow his own path, because the early returns are very promising.

Lynch and his female foil, Hannah Hunt, pack a lot of nostalgic variety into their 15 minutes (hopefully the runtime isn’t a Warholian commentary on their career trajectory).  The title track serves as a peppy opener to the proceedings, risking a bold and boisterously cheesy synth line and introducing the warmly familiar guy-gal melodies that carry throughout the EP.  It’s a likably infectious, sweet-sounding piece of fluffy dance-pop fare…and also the weakest song in the quartet.

“Clawing Out at the Walls” swings the mood to a more reflective place, even as the gently propulsive rhythms continue.  Hunt very capably fills the Isobel Campbell role – the importance of which shouldn’t be understated.  They kick it up a notch again on “About My Girls.”  The ingredients are familiar:  drum machine set to “Eighties,” hazy oohs and ahhs, handclaps, and a brain-invading riff.  Revolutionary?  No.  Feel good?  You bet your dominant leg it does.   

For all the good vibes, the best track is also the one most likely to clear the dancefloor:  “Run like Hell for Leather.”  Here, the listener gets the sense that Lynch and Hunt would be just fine if left to their own devices, all machines unplugged.  Like the best EPs, it gives a glimpse of a future directional shift that could have a big payoff; granted, in this case there isn’t much past to shift away from.  No doubt, Lynch is operating in a crowded field that’s ripe for a backlash; but the mix of pop chops and eclecticism on Young at Love and Life suggests that he could be one of the survivors when the happy-hazy-fuzzy-beach-funtime bubble bursts.