Dryer --- Out Of The Loop (CD)

You know, stuff like this bugs the hell out of me.

Dryer are one of the best bands in the Albany/Schenecdty/Saratoga Springs axis. Total kick-ass live shows. Great songs.

So I happily bought Out Of The Loop. And the songs are great. But there's a problem. An incredibly distracting problem, to boot: the production.

There's something about the way this was recorded that makes it sound rather stiff. Like the producer (whom shall remain nameless) made the band do take after take after take, looking for the perfect track o' rawk. To these ears, best local records seem to be of the live-to-four track variety. But I should be talking about the songs, right?

Well, when they're good, they're good. A song like "Which John Is John?" is one of those rare moments in song (although Dryer reached the same peak with "Kirsten's Revenge" from the perfect Beef/Dryer split-7") where everything fits perfectly and you want to listen to it again and again. And a song like "MTV", which seems like a totally cliched idea, into an awesome sing-along. And Dryer are one ot the few bands to pull off the recurring theme of "we're a band" reasonably well and originally. So yeah, if you can get past the production, it's a really good CD. (Paint Chip Records/Tramp Records; Paint Chip Records, P.O. Box 12401, Albany NY 12212) --- mike

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Michael Keegan
3.6.1999