Pretty much everything about Swiss band The Dentals screams "joke!". From that cover, to describing their genre as "Alco-pop" to the witty press release "So far the Dentals have not achieved anything at all… but they haven’t really tried yet either... The band's common passion for folk-pop music, catchy melodies and David Hasselhoff results in the release of their debut album 'Tennessee'. The album features 13 songs about getting married, making one’s career, nipples, alcohol and other things that move the world." So they're not particularly asking to be taken seriously, and probably not expecting to be.
The lyrics do indeed talk of nipples and beer, and novelty is never far away (see 'Not Every Idiot Knows How To Drive A Car', Mentally Retarded') which makes 'Tennessee' feel a bit like something a bunch of students came up with on rag week. Musically this record is fine in a slightly goofy indiepop sort of way. Sweet melodies and crisply strummed guitars make it an enjoyable listen if you can avoid the lyrics about "getting slaughtered" and how "your nipples are the best". 'I Am An Artist' is a quite lovely piece of guitar-pop if you strip away the 'wacky' vocals. Some may find the humour an asset but surely most will agree that their talents could be put to better use.
Even a likeable, plucked instrumental they decide to call 'I Am Well But You Are Paul Weller'. If you like base humour in your music then you'll find an indie treat here, but anyone with more mature taste (i.e. post-secondary school) might feel let down that what could be a decent set of melodic tunes is ruined by juvenile wit. There's a talent in The Dentals but it's currently going to waste. Ditch the crap gags, either make them more refined or work on some non-comic lyrics and there are tunes here that could shine. Until then, 'Tennessee' is just decent enough musically, but not something you'd want to play more than once.
The Dentals' website
Buy the album
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