DENNIS DIKEN WITH BELL SOUND
Late Sound
(CRYTPOVISION)
[Rating: 3.5 stars]
Late Sound is a wonderfully retro-futuristic expedition into the past/future by Smithereens drummer Dennis Diken that evokes the Technicolor spirit of pubescent romance, unabashedly sunny melodicism, lavish beach-party/barbershop harmonies and sentimental charm. Ostensibly not a solo outing, but a group effort (Bell Sound being the duo of Diken and multi-instrumentalist Pete DiBella), it resounds like a timeless Beach Boys album that Brian Wilson never finished, an echo reinforced by the presence of Brian’s sideman Andy Paley (who imparts a panoply of instrumental textures from guitar to glockenspiel, and purportedly dreamt the arrangement to “No One’s Listening”), the Honeys (the ‘60s girl group starring Brian’s first wife Marilyn), and even Brian’s touring band, The Wondermints. The opening cut, “The Sun’s Gonna Shine in the Morning,” gallops with spiritedly hectic Keith Moon-like drumming, while the lovely “I’ve Been Away” comes off as a cross between Jefferson Airplane and the Byrds. “Temptation Cake” is like a dreamy West Coast acid trip circa 1967, mixing up the psychedelic expanse of “MacArthur Park” with the lush chromatic whimsy of Harry Nilsson. Just when it seemed beach season was over, a new endless summer has been sparked.—