Doves
Some Cities
(Capitol/Heavenly)
First Appeared in The Music Box, March 2005, Volume 12, #3
Written by John Metzger
Despite the release of its third outing Some Cities, Doves still seems to be searching for its niche. The group’s history dates back to 1993 when under the moniker Sub Sub, it became a fixture within Manchester, England’s dance club scene. Five years later, however, as the music world altered its course, the ensemble changed its name to Doves and began following a different career path. Its debut Lost Souls revealed the collective’s newfound infatuation with Radiohead’s dreary, dreamy escapades; its sophomore effort The Last Broadcast delved into joyously grandiose dance-pop; and its latest offering Some Cities largely succeeds in marrying these two worlds. The problem, however, is that while all three collections have been crafted ambitiously, the band still sounds as if it is cutting and pasting its influences together in order to manufacture an identity and latch onto a market trend.
Employing a kitchen-sink approach, Doves — which features Jimi Goodwin and
twin brothers Jez and Andy Williams — invokes within the 11 tracks of Some
Cities everything from the slinky grooves of Motown to the Happy Mondays’
manic, "Madchester" raves, and from the furiously cascading, post-punk of U2 to
the vigorous Britpop of Oasis. Yet, despite the rippling guitars, the bubbling
bass, the hazy vocals, and the powerhouse percussion, at its core, the group’s
music still feels a little hollow. In essence, while it has become quite good at
constructing ambience — the heady swirl of its sonic scenery is, at times, quite
breathtaking — the band still hasn’t found its true emotional calling. For the
record, the ensemble does appear to be making strides, however slowly, in this
direction, and Some Cities contains its most cohesive batch of songs to
date. Its tales of alienation and lost innocence form a loosely-knit suite that
pays tribute to life under the cloudy, grey skies of the trio’s hometown, but
despite the collective’s consistently lofty aspirations, the effort doesn’t
remain compelling when placed under close scrutiny. While there undoubtedly is a
masterpiece lurking in Doves’ future, Some Cities, unfortunately, isn’t
it. 
Some Cities is available
from Barnes & Noble. To order, Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2005 The Music Box