Album Review: Spray Paint - Dopers
By Hannah Mullin, Contributor
[Monofonus Press; 2015]
Rating: 1/5
Key Tracks: Nada.
Dopers is an album that one should not listen to unless under severe circumstances. Composed of a continuously monotonous beat and flat sound, the only reason to continue listening is to get to the end. It is the second LP of bland punk band Spray Paint, released just four months after Punters on a Barge.
The seemingly unchanging drum and guitar chords make the songs run together to create a monstrous sound of hollow songs that lyrically lead nowhere. Dopers is entirely lacking lyrical depth with nonsensical and awkwardly depressing lines such as “It’s time to put the dog down” from “Signal Master” and “She’s got a shovel / She’s got a good shovel man,” of “Goth Apologist.”
There is hardly a noticeable change in tune until the sixth song, “Thrash Master,” which has a faster beat; however the song is accompanied by Spray Paint’s three flat voices to guarantee listeners feel empty and desperate inside.
A quote from Spray Paint on the making of the album accurately sums up the holistic sound of Dopers. “The studio we recorded at was surrounded by a harsh scene of bleakness, sadness, and homelessness . . . We ate at a 24-hour casino diner for pretty much every meal, and half of the songs are about things that were happening there in the wee hours.”
One can entirely imagine the “bleakness” and “sadness” of a desolate diner, as those are the emotions of every song on the album. “Gravity Drainer,” an instrumental of white noise, is a perfect end to the album, ensuring all who listen walk away with a black hole in their hearts.
The strange lyrics and painstakingly repetitive beat of Dopers makes it nearly impossible to listen to the whole album without beating your head against a wall ,just to get the sound of boredom and desolation out of your head.
