If I told you that an indie/noise rock/dream pop/punk band whose main lineup included a drummer, bassist, and guitarist was adding a 4th musician, could you guess who that fourth permanent member would mostly likely be? Rhythm Guitarist? Keyboardist/Synth? Pianist? DJ/Turntablist/Programmer? Brass? Woodwinds? Percussionist? Accordion?
In the case of The Dambuilders, who were born in Honolulu in 1989 from co-founders Eric Masunaga (Guitar) and Dave Derby (Bass, Lead Vocals), burst out in Boston in the early 90s, and then disbanded in 1998, that magical 4th instrument was the Electric Violin. On virtually every song they released from 1993 onwards, spanning 5 LPs, you will hear that electric violin, helmed by Joan Wasser (who also did double duty on lead/backing vocals). It is so naturally integrated into the songs that whether it's melting into basslines and guitar riffs (thereby enhancing the sonic layering), busting out in solos, or playing the contrasting element to those two other stringed instruments, it turned out to be the missing piece that helped to gel and define The Dambuilders' signature sound.
I picked up their 1994 major label debut (and 4th LP overall), Encendedor, at the venerable Rockaway Records in Silverlake, sometime late in that year. I think it must have been one of my first visits to the iconic indie store, which miraculously is still kicking, despite its modest size and scope (Amoeba Records, a behemoth among indie record stores, it is not!). Notwithstanding the corporate aegis of Atlantic Records, Encendedor is at its core an independently made record which manages to sustain the band's edginess while bringing The Dambuilders sound to its most artistically evolved state, compromising nothing. Professional engineering and production enhances the vocal melodies and harmonies, while thickening the instrumental soundscape.
For most of you who are only hearing of The Dambuilders for the first time in this posting, it may be a relatively moot statement regarding an already 'deceased' band of relative obscurity, but Encendedor is, in my opinion, the finest and most cohesive album the Dambuilders ever made. From the opening track, the brilliant, moody, slightly menacing semi-instrumental 'Copsucker,' The Dambuilders sound arrives fully formed. They rock hard, chaotically, and melodically, punctuated by an epic explosion of tortured screaming seldom heard on any record before or since.
1. Copsucker
'Colin's Heroes,' 'Kill Haole Day,' Smell,' and the minor radio/MTV hit 'Shrine' are the songs which best unite soaring melodies with the rhythmic quadruple noise rock/punk assault of Masunaga, Wasser, Derby, and drummer Kevin March, while 'Slo-Mo Kikaida' is a groovy dream pop sound collage. The album even includes a power ballad (well, kinda sorta), the wistful 'Idaho.'
2. Colin's Heroes
3. Smell
4. Slo-Mo Kikaida
5. Shrine
'Collective' is a dark, noir-ish slice of impending doom that contains anxious spoken word passages, dream pop melodies, angry shouts, and swirling, churning guitar and electric violin loops that howl like a Sonic Youth dopplegänger.
6. Collective
'Wake from the Sleep to Recover
The Weapon of Faith in your Hands
Destiny Hangs from a Star
Wait for the Night to Descend
Smash the Citadel
Know that the Devil will Fall
Carry the Words to the Minarets
Never Forget, Never Forget
Decide...Decide...Decide...Decide...
Accept it!'
The LP concludes with two of my least favorite Encendedor tracks, 'Delaware' and 'Fur.' Approriately, the album ends as it starts, with frantic and horrific screams at the climax of the closer, 'Fur.'
So in the annals of the 'Where are They Now?' files, Bassist/Lead Vocalist Derby has done some spotty solo work and fronted a band or two since the breakup of The Dambuilders. Guitarist Masunaga has spent the majority of the past 15 years playing recording engineer (he owns a studio in Cambridge, MA), lending his production and post-production (mixing, mastering) talents to a long list of artists. Drummer Kevin March has been a permanent member of bands such as Guided by Voices, and has compiled an impressive session drumming resumé. And last but certainly not least, violinist/vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Joan Wasser (yes, she's truly a multi-instramentalist) has done a ridiculous amount of guesting/sessioning with a wide variety of artists, and has also cut 3 LPs of her own as Joan as Police Woman.
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