Dinosaur Pile-Up – Celebrity Mansions
Dinosaur Pile-Up - Celebrity Mansions
(Parlophone Records)
Release Date: 7th June 2019
I am late to the Dinosaur Pile-Up
party, no way am I going to deny that, but I have turned up with a full keg,
some pizzas and a bag of weed so what do you say we let bygones be bygones and
kick this thing up a notch. With a cough and a guitar chug, ‘Thrash Metal
Cassette’ gets things going and if you’re in any doubt about whether you’ll
like this then imagine Cobain singing with Reuben and you’re going to be free
of that pesky doubt. Recent single and my personal gateway drug ‘Back Foot’
comes next and sounds even bigger and, well, poppier in the context of an album.
As album openings go, these two tracks are like bringing chainsaw to a tea
party and immediately it’s a tea party you want to be at.
‘Stupid Heavy Metal Broken
Hearted Loser Punk’ is skater punk with Andrew W.K. levels of intensity and
Jamie Lenman-esque disregard for genre norms that ends up being the ‘Teenage
Dirtbag’ this generation needs. On title track ‘Celebrity Mansions’, Dinosaur
Pile-Up go all Weezer on our asses which I am well up for and, I suspect, our
American cousins will absolutely lap up. The crunch of the guitars and rasp of
the vocals coming out of Matt Bigland on ‘Round the Bend’ is classic broken-hearted
grunge technique while ‘Pouring Gasoline’ is perhaps the American sounding song
to have come out of Leeds and I mean that as a massive compliment.
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Now, I know what you’re thinking,
where’s the track we can wave our lighters in the air to? Well, it’s right here
in the shape of ‘Black Limousine’ which finds the trio in swaying, anthemic
form which have them nailed on for the next Foo Fighters support slot. ‘K West’
finds the band in feel good party form as their grunge-pop gets the crowd
jumping and beers flying through the air as they name check Jay-Z, Camden, Pepsi
and, of course, the K West through a suitably sneering lens. That Reuben
influence is back on ‘Professional Freak’ as the big riffs, huge beats and
bouncing grunge energy is back with a touch of Silverchair about the singalong
chorus.
‘Long Way Down‘ closes the album
out with the kind of building rock anthem that you might expect from Pixies or
Smashing Pumpkins but with that English sensibility which is what sets this
album apart from the rest of the rock world. ‘Celebrity Mansions’ is certainly
my favourite album of 2019 so far and possibly the best of the year with it’s
mix of melodies, power, humour and observation but I know it won’t be to
everyone’s taste. That said, if you’re after a summer rock album to kick the
party off with in style then you are done looking – this is it.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/dinosaurpileup/
Live Dates:
21st June – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion,
The Woodlands
23rd June – CCNB Amphitheatre at Heritage Park,
Simpsonville
25th June – Charlotte Metro Credit Union
Amphitheatre, Charlotte
26th June – Red Hat Amphitheatre, Raleigh
28th June – PNC Bank Arts Centre, Holmdel
29th June – Marine Savings Pavilion, Westbrook
1st July – Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion, Boston
3rd July – Bank of NH Pavilion, Gilford
6th July – St Joseph’s Health Amphitheatre,
Syracuse
9th July – RBC Echo Beach, Toronto
10th July – Key Bank Pavilion, Burgettstown
13th July – DTE Energy Music Theatre, Clarkston
14th July – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, Tinley
Park
20th July – Comerica Theatre, Phoenix
21st July – FivePoint Amphiteathre, Phoenix
24th July – Reno Events Centre, Reno
26th July – Accesso ShoWare Centre, Kent
27th July – Sunlight Supply Amphitheatre,
Ridgefield