photo courtesy of Head First Entertainment

Album Review of Falling Doves: Electric Dove

Sporting a sound reminiscent of ’80s/’90s-era Enuff Z’Nuff, with a hint of Mr. Big, maybe, a dash of screeching blues-based rock guitar, and some heavy melodic punk, the Falling Doves deliver a distorted, powerful rock ‘n roll album. Bands the Falling Doves have shared the stage with include Echo & The Bunnymen, Peter Murphy of Bauhaus, Fastball, and Gilby Clarke. Yeah, that sounds about right.

image courtesy of Head First Entertainment

And yet, second song “Hello Stars” sounds like a hard rock song that might be heavily influenced by shoegaze, with a loud, buzzing rock and roll sound field and crunchy guitars driving a well-structured song that keeps acting as if it’s about to meander off, but it doesn’t. It’s a neat trick, and an engaging song. “NYC” is kind of like this, too. And until putting the pieces together while analyzing this album, I never realized that Enuff Z’Nuff actually has a bit of the heavy rock-meets-dream pop vibe in several of its songs. Of course, Enuff Z’Nuff predated shoegaze, so… well, I have to wonder which foundation musician in that musically distant genre was a secret EZ’N fan.

But I digress. Back to Falling Doves, and one step back to the album-opener, “Art of Letting Go”, which is an aggressive, disc-launching melodic hard rocker, with drums, crunchy guitars, distorted guitars, and vocal wails befitting a hard rock band, a catchy song and quick favorite that’ll cause unintentional – though definitely not undesired – headbanging whenever you listen to it.

photo courtesy of Head First Entertainment

“Dialing You!” is another straightforward rocking favorite on the disc, with a steady rhythm, vocal snarl, and a couple mean guitar hooks. “Strange Love” stands out for its guitar wails during a couple short bridges and a wall of music backdrop so complete that it almost seems like some static fill had been included specifically to ensure there are no gaps.

“December Took You Away” is a driving straightforward rocker with the vocals and guitar adding just a hint of side-to-side rhythm. There’s perhaps a smidgeon of Green Day-like defiance mixed in, with a classic guitar run in the middle of the song playing a major role in redirecting it forward – it’s subtle but very cool once you notice it.

“Something About Her Ways” – particularly the opening stanza – exhibits the strongest old-school alt-hard-rock influence on the disc, adding the sort of small variances of ingredients from song to song necessary to provide an enjoyable full-album listening experience.

After “NYC,” mentioned earlier, distorted, disjointedly rhythmic rocker “Changes,” old school alt-pop rock-seasoned “Tomorrow Night” (depending on my mood, I alternately hear hints of Human League and Blondie when I listen), and the raucously, punkishly hard rocker “Don’t Have the Time” solidly drive the disc to a close.

In the end, Enuff Z’Nuff fans won’t be able to unhear the stylistic similarities, and I mean that in the most complimentary possible way. For the rest of you, this is a solid hard rock album with catchy rhythms and a hint of the ethereal echoing in the music, particularly in the vocals. Good stuff.

photo courtesy of Head First Entertainment

More Recently

During the pandemic, the Falling Doves have added several releases on Bandcamp, including a couple of “virtual tour” releases and a cool EP of covers, Electrafixation.

Looking Ahead

Keep an eye on the band’s website and/or the “Events” tab of its Facebook page for upcoming shows.