New THE DIM: “Game Hero” And “Rock’n Roll Baby”

Geez, I haven’t heard much from THE DIM camp in a long time. So long in fact these two tracks initially didn’t really phase me all that much…both “Game Hero” and “Rock’n Roll Baby” sound like serviceable albeit unmemorable rock numbers at first…until some part of my brain went “wait, something isn’t right here.” A little bit of past-memory digging, though, shined a light on what was off – THE DIM now sound nothing like they did about a year ago. Where once they played spazzy quote-unquote indie music drizzled with electro freakness, the band now makes straightforward, no goofing around music. These two numbers certainly aren’t bad – well, “Rock’n Roll Baby” sorta sucks thanks to grating vocals and a monotonous melody – but they lack any characteristic charm that made THE DIM sorta exciting in the first place. “Game Hero” comes closest of the pair to recapturing that initial rush, what with its escalating singing and guitars that sometime sound like they might consider going off the straight and narrow at some point maybe. Yet they never do, the whole thing comes off like a dressed-up version of what they once did. THE DIM once sounded dangerous. Now they sound like a boring knockoff of Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Here’s hoping it’s a phase and they embrace the wildness once lurking in their sound. Listen here.