In fact, Dappled Cities may be too derivative of those bands, and more preoccupied with sound than songs. But Granddance has its share of good songs too—like "Work It Out," which buoys spirits even through shades of regret.  Full text...

Dappled Cities are a mature band with a highly evolved sense of songcraft and arrangement. Aside from merely writing them, they know how to inhabit songs and make them breathe. It's that quality elevates Granddance beyond being simply good and makes it occasionally border on great.  Full text...

The best thing about Granddance isn't the Aussies' ear for high-fructose melodies or their urbane arrangement powers. It's that knowing, no matter what science and mass culture throw at this record, it's going to be as credible five, 10 or 20 years from now. Now only if religion was that reliable.  Full text...

The nice surf ballad instrumentals of “The Eve The Girl” are in line with the English sensibility of the Shadows’ “Apache” and greatly understand how syllables override rhyming in lyricism (“Lone-ly love-less wid-ow”.)   Full text...

While Dappled Cities' music is in the vein of Granddaddy, The Flaming Lips, and Cloud Cult, their sound cannot muster the richness of their comparisons.   Full text...