Dolphin City doesn't try to be a flashy firecracker band, but instead grabs listeners' attention in their own way. Made up of Tyler Ellis, Kevin Bleitz, Eric Scullin and Drew Morgan, the young four-piece outfit from Newport Beach, California surprises with a developed, lush sound that bands usually only find after years of playing together.
The band's newly released album, "Discretion," has a polished sound that often seems out of reach for independently produced records. With a soft kaleidoscope of bubbling electronica backing a Radiohead-influenced songwriting style, Dolphin City joins the fast-growing experimental-pop genre. Lead singer Eric Scullin's voice carries each track on "Discretion" a delightful distance into the ether, leaving listeners with a curious desire for more.
The album kicks off with "Old Romance." As with many of the "Discretion" tracks, "Old Romance" seems to have been the hodge-podge mix of several song ideas strung together. Don't get the wrong idea, though. The opener track really moves, kicks the stereo in the teeth and says, "Hey, we're here."
"Wine and Grapes" is the album's third track and was once featured on singleoftheday.com. The line "We can't be contained/ Can't be controlled" is a pretty solid description of "Discretion" and Dolphin City as a whole. Like the opening track, "Wine and Grapes" moves through several different grooves, and any listeners that don't bob their head to the refrain "I bet you think you've got it made," might need to get their ears checked.
Scullin calls out "We're making plans for San Francisco" on the next track, "I Am Love You." Again, Dolphin City constructs this one with the usual start: a slow groove that Michael Franks could have written if he had effects pedals that eventually turns into a serious fusion jam. It's songs like these that can give the feeling that if Dolphin City wanted to, they could be a post-modern fusion band. But the band's growing fan-base is glad they took a different route.
"It Will (Don't Worry)" is another example of Dolphin City's unbridled potential to be a completely rock-fusion band. "Lady V" is the closest thing to piano-rock "Discretion" has. That's a good thing, since nobody listening to this album would really want an Andrew McMahon number anyway, and Dolphin City dutifully avoids the overly poppy cliché.
"Presque Vu" comes in with a gypsy mischief that isn't found anywhere else in the album. Scullin can be nearly heard smirking when he sings, "I fall asleep at the wheel and hit the gas." Morgan's pedal-wizard guitar work on this track is particularly notable.
The opening piano chords to "Do What Is Right" can't help but be compared to Radiohead's "Karma Police." Dolphin City sinks into a darker area here with this piano-centered piece, giving rest to the thick wash of guitars on previous tracks. Scullin's plea "stop trying to ask me questions" at the end of the track might also be good advice for a new listener to Dolphin City. Too often, people rush to try to deconstruct and categorize difficult-to-define music and, in the process, miss out on something worthwhile.
Dolphin City invites listeners to let the sound seep out of the stereo and not be concerned with categories or labels. In fact, labeling the band would take away some of what makes "Discretion" a great album: A lot of its sounds have not been heard before. It takes something special to cut a record like this without the aid of a major label.
The band has the musicianship, creativity and drive that is standard with any moderately successful group, but the reason they're making waves while other bands get lost in the fog is that Dolphin City has a spark of nouveau genius, daring to experiment before establishing its own sound. "Discretion" has found a synergy that begs to be loved.
