With such a reference in the name of the band, I was afraid at first to be obliged to listen to a pale copy of Pavement, a band which you cannot copy with the slightest chance of success. Luckily, they have not tried. Dress for Success plays pop rock, quite unoriginal but never repulsive, sometimes heading towards noisy stuff. The music is easy on the ear and pleasantly catchy but I can’t help thinking of Brian Molko when I hear the singing on “Terror”. I suppose the only flaw of the singer is his accent but he interestingly adds a lot of variation to his singing, emphasizing the angst or the melodies in the music. “Nothing” and “Squeeze” are infuriated 3 minutes long instinctive pop rock songs. “Terror” reminds me of Eyelash Pulse (French band from Toulouse) in a good way but at least Dress for Success goes straight to the point, not saturating a song that is basically good with more and more first-rate melodies that would exhaust the listener’s attention. On the whole, the guitars are wisely intertwined but the solos are anecdotal. “Connected” reminds of Stony Sleep and that’s a compliment.

The four tracks on this self released EP are quite all alike and then coherent. I’d say that it is good enough to be listened to but maybe not on a full length album. Check by yourselves.

-Angus "black brown beige" Anderson

/june 15th 2003/