Dalmatians :: Dalmations
2004-12-01
Seattle Weekly
http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0448/041201_music_cdre
The Dalmatians are "Balsa" on "rap, electronics," "Chicken" on "rap, rad," and "Pongo" on drums and "spelling." On Pop/Rock Ruff-Drafts Album, the Seattle trio cranks out seven ditties of restless abandon for dance parties of the electro-punk variety. Their guy/girl, back-and-forth banter falls somewhere between party rap and your little brother and sister arguing over a Fisher-Price mike in the rec room. Melodies sound like a reprogrammed Atari 2600, and the whole thing is augmented by chipper hand claps and dog barks, and Pongo's infectious, danceable drumbeats keep everything moving. Then there are the lyrics: "This is what it looks like when you're positive/So we'll roll into your town and play a 20-minute set/This what it looks like when you play a fucking show/This is what it looks like when you're happy so you know." Got that? You will.Ruff-Drafts manages to summarily disarm you, then demand a shaking ass and a smile before you know what happened. Live, the Dalmatians are pretty similar, as the enhanced-CD live footage demonstrates. Shorter than the aforementioned 20-minute set, it's a bonus video of a set at the Punkin House. Every song has the crowd unhinged inside of its two-minute span—for good reason. GRANT BRISSEY
