Tangible Sounds- Dark Side of the Cop
- Dan Hamilton
- 4/5 stars
- 2006
Dark Side of the Cop is the brainchild of
singer/songwriter/instrumentalist Marco Panella. A concept album (the
first in a three part series) about a man from Detroit who is pursuing
a woman who has since moved to California. The album is a journey
across states and across musical borders as Marco takes us into many
influences from the Beach Boys to The Cars to The Pixies and back.
Refreshingly poppy, refreshingly earnest, this album feels like a good
breath mint after a garlic-filled meal.
This concept album has the prerequisite prelude and interlude however that’s where the prerequisites end. “Stuck in the Darkness” could be two minutes of any Secret Machines album and “Shaky Little Rules” brings us back to the new age punk of the early 80’s. Dark Side then turns the notches down for a few songs until reemerging with “Paradise Lost and Found,” which could be the twin sister to any The Boy Least Likely To song. “California” could be the first song bearing that title not to be a poppy happy joyride along the oceanfront, but is more of a walk across Jane and Finch at 2 am, blindfolded with a bull’s-eye shirt on. Closing with the soft lullaby “Little Things” or the hay wagon trip through the pumpkin farm known as “Sugar Farmer” would’ve been the normal thing to do, but this album is all about the unexpected. Instead “Flying Fists and Flashing Lights” leaves us in complete bewilderment as we scramble to find the release date for part two.
For the ADD generation, a 13-track album with only one ranging past the three minute mark is accepted with arms wide open and a welcome basket full of fresh fruit from the Florida Tropics. With only one verifiable single on the album (”Shaky Little Rules”) and being released a small independent label (Auger Down Records), this album won’t find its way onto radio, however it will snuggle up to college radio stations across the continent.