The Doves first formed ten years ago in the wake of the acid house craze that swept through their hometown of Manchester, England. They were just three kids who wanted to have a good time.
Twin brothers Jez and Andy Williams hadn’t seen their old schoolmate Jimi Goodwin in years until they bumped into each other one crazed night on the dance floor at England’s legendary Hacienda club. The Hacienda was acid house central and the centrifugal force that spun out a generation of kids who wanted to do something for themselves. So they did, they formed a band.
Back in 1993, in their previous incarnation as a dance act Sub Sub, they scored a UK hit with the super-charged disco stirrer “Ain’t No Love.” But their biggest hit turned out to be their biggest obstacle.
“It was the best and worst times of our lives, but it put us in a corner we didn’t want to be in, with all the disco dollies,” said Goodwin.
The last two tracks they recorded as Sub Sub, which continued their tradition of working with guest vocalists and featured Tricky and New Order’s Bernard Sumner, were the prelude to their second album. But it was all lost in a studio fire that consumed their master tapes, equipment, and history. Once they recovered from the sight of their melted drum machines and firefighters sitting on a singed couch strumming Goodwin’s acoustic guitar, they decided it was time for a change.
“It was a good cut off point, the fire,” said Jez Williams. “It kept things interesting. At the end of the day, it’s the music that stands up. And I think ours does.”
But it really doesn’t.
Their debut album Lost Souls will leave listeners desperate to find a breadcrumb trail out of the dull disk. The first few tracks start out strong and are actually pretty, dreamy, floaty songs that are soulful and reminiscent of Coldplay.
Then, by the time you reach tracks five, “Rise”; six, “Lost Souls”; and seven, “Melody Calls”; the vocal effects have gotten so redundant, that your finger can’t help but reach for the skip button.
“Catch the Sun,” the Doves’ big UK hit single, is track eight. It’s not a horrible tune, but it sounds like a Foo Fighters rip-off, with the exception that Dave Grohl’s trademark tender tone would have made the song work. Herein lies the major problem with the Doves – Jimi Goodwin ain’t no singer. His voice is harsh, and it’s just not as melodic as the band’s songs. His vocals are altered on nearly every track, because they’re just not very good.
Finding yourself lost in Lost Souls means that you’ve broken the eject button on your CD player, because listening to it from beginning to end is just as exciting as church and bad theater. And God help the poor souls that pick up the US Limited Edition version with the three bonus tracks. – LT