Artist: Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Album: Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You
Genre: Dance/Electronica
Label: Cooking Vinyl

Well, this is a strange one. It took a few listens for me to figure out what to make of the quirkily-named DIOYY, as their album never manages to stick to one loose sound but plays around with a million. It takes a few trips through electro, indie, and even rap during its ten songs, with varying degrees of success, meaning the album is a difficult one to love although there is much to admire.

“We Are the Dead” sets the strange tone from the outset by pitching a straightforward acoustic guitar, then abandoning it in favor of rhythmic dance beats. It sounds a little like Cobra Starship, if they got lost in a horror movie. That said, capricious tone aside, it’s fairly good. The mad electronics and pounding rhythm are catchy, and the various switches in tempo and sound keep one attuned quite firmly.

“John Hurt” is even odder. A quiet opening gives way to bizarre mazes of mismatched beats, distortion and quirky sound effects, all set to a pleading wail of a vocal. This makes for a huge melange of almost hallucinogenic weirdness, something that becomes a kind of trademark throughout the album. (Somewhere in the background there’s a sample of “It Takes Two” by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock which adds to the randomness.) It’s not quite as instantly likable as the opening song, but packs a punch nonetheless!

“Pull Out My Insides” suffers from a horribly indie effect at first. It livens up a tad when the synth puts in an appearance, though this does mean it has a touch of the stereotypical indie hipster sound to it. The vocals are a bit empty, which detracts from the general vigor of the instrumentation, and this lets the song down a tad. “The Monkeys Are Coming? lifts things up again later on. It’s anarchic, with just a perceptible touch of the Prodigy in the breakdown. The verses disappear back into the realms of strange and unusual but overlooking that, the main beat is steady and likable. It goes a little OTT with peculiar animal-like sounds, but the genesis of the song is very good, and it’s a worthy effort.

Compared with the foregoing, “Wrong Time, Wrong Planet” is almost subdued. It has a gorgeous bass line, infectious as the best of them, and this gives it an instantly glamorous feel. There’s a lot more elegance and taste to this song than most of the others – its straightforward, competent approach comes across as more self-assured and the absence of genre-hopping misadventures adds to that. There are wonderful individual glimpses of brilliance – a kind of electro warble that appears in the middle and again towards the end, and a diaphanous choral effect, which work exceedingly well in pushing it a step above the ordinary.

“Wrestler (This Is the Dance)” is unfailingly lively, vibrant, and energetic, from the opening rousing speech through to the end. This and “Wondering” are a double whammy to be reckoned with. Pounding and merciless, the latter is a stunningly effective song. The music is powerful and pulsating, set to exquisitely timed rap vocals. It’s a short one, but it works perfectly to reinvigorate listeners and is one of the few unabashed successes on an album that misses as often as it hits.

To this end, the album unfortunately ends on something of a dud note with “Broken Arms,” which is a bit empty and meaningless. I think it meant to be quite tender and evocative, but somehow the vocals just don’t add the necessary hint of sensitivity, seeming whiny and nasal. The music too is a touch uninspired, and the grander elements just don’t work with the rest of the song. It is, unfortunately, all a bit messy and makes for a forgettable ending, but the album itself isn’t all bad.

Mostly, I’m just a little confused by how to describe DIOYY, or analyze them properly. They’re a law unto themselves, which should probably be celebrated in a musical universe such as ours, but their impatience and unwillingness to settle can be just as frustrating as it can exciting. In short, there’s a great ear for style and diversity here, though the frequent vacillating from one sound to another hints at a little uncertainty. Focus on the simpler, more effective elements, as opposed to shock and awe, and there could be wonders yet.

Score: 6/10
Review written by: Grace Duffy

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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