EPs

EP Review : Dixie Dix & The Rebel Pixies – ‘The Nightmare of the Lovely Bard’

By admin

Posted on 53 minutes ago

5 min read

101

Review by Paul Monkhouse for MPM

Some people play music and other people live it. Dixie Dix definitely falls into the latter category, the South Coast Troubadour and their band of merry musicians don’t just perform songs, they inhabit them. With Dixie having made a name for themselves already as a hard touring solo artist, this first recorded outing with new combo The Rebel Pixies promised much and delivers more, the EP giving a tantalising hint of even more good things to come.

Whilst it’s all held together beautifully by Dix’s distinct vocals, this six track EP covers quite a few bases and while it could be perceived that the outfit have yet to find their style, the whole is more something that glories in its eclecticism, unbound by the constraints of a specific genre. Certainly, what we have here is a delicious dip into a band starting to stretch their wings and whilst they may be a relatively new creation, the songwriting and performances show something that has been carefully and skillfully crafted. One of the greatest pleasures here is knowing that new discoveries await with each consecutive listen, subtle little touches that may initially be passed by unknowingly but heard upon repeat plays. This is something to grow with.

Things open with the folk-flavoured whimsy of ‘Coffee’ its delicate acoustic picking and live in the studio feel bring a real warmth and naturalness to the track. Things take a whiplash-inducing right turn with the sugar rush pop meets rockabilly scuffle shuffle of ’21st Fucked Up Century Teen’ that blends great hooks with Riot Grrrl energy to great effect, the juxtapostion delicious. Following that, ‘Bottle of Wine’ brings a stripped back late night bedsit angst feel to the EP, sounding like ‘Nebraska’ if Springsteen had been a Bournemouth teenager nursing a first broken heart. This number glows and sparks with intent, each moment raw, vulnerable and honest as it highlights the strength of the material here and the commitment to the story.

The seemingly offkilter percussive rythyms at the start of ‘Smoking Kills’ sound like a happy accident and it’s touches like this that lifts the EP out of the norm, the rest of this shimmering slice of pop rock incandescent in its summery vibe as everything perfectly falls into place. ‘Perfect Girl’ is the perfectly formed closing ballad, bringing everything to a gossamer finish, the edited, radio friendly ‘NFG’ taking the second tracks wild abandon and cleaning up the lyrics slightly, whilst not sacrificing its central themes. If you haven’t fallen in love with Dixie Dix & The Rebel Pixies by the end of the first spin, you may not like music. Glorious.