Dinosaur Feathers: Control (Ernest Jenning) Review

Dinosaur Feathers

Control

Ernest Jenning

Oct 09, 2014 Dinosaur Feathers By Will Moss

While Brooklyn duo Dinosaur Feathers claim acts as diverse as Harry Nilsson and Drake as influences, on second album Control this supposed manifold of era-defining sounds is nowhere to be seen. Instead, the end result is something of a post-Foster the People/Phoenix pastiche of chirpy guitar pop. While Greg Sullo’s sky-high falsetto impresses on the likes of “Fools,” it often feels like Sullo has honed his craft imitating his idols rather than crafting his own sound.

Similar can be said of the instrumentation. Funky ‘80s synths are all well and good to a point, but there is certainly a limit on how much is acceptable this side of 1989 and Dinosaur Feathers far surpass it. Each track has been cleaned and polished to within an inch of its life, leaving the record feeling sterile and overly saccharine. Every element of “Anything You Want” is so high pitched that it risks becoming audible only to dogs, while “For Jonathan” breaks into a choir-like chorus that is so cheesy it could be from a Hair-esque piece of musical theatre. Control is an album that attempts to leave the band’s noughties indie past by finding new directions for the decade’s overused sound, but like so many of their contemporaries, Dinosaur Feathers have failed in the process. (www.dinosaurfeathersmusic.blogspot.co.uk/)

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