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The Dopamine Theory

3-Track Demo

Label: Release Date: 24/11/2003

Mike_Diver by Mike Diver November 24th, 2003

If you like your rock low-slung and dirty, you could do considerably worse than angle your ears in the direction of Harrow’s The Dopamine Theory. This immaculately-produced demo may contain little in the way of surprises – it’s strong, earnest rawk 'n' roll, ever so slightly in the vein of jittery post hardcore tykes Hell is for Heroes, yet also as commercial as Feeder or modern day Jane’s Addiction – but what it lacks in creative inspiration it makes up for in volume. Teeth-shattering opener ‘Destroy All Monsters’ contains a killer chorus, daft lyrics aside (destroy all monsters? Huh?), and next track ‘Turbo Turns’ (which was on the band’s last demo CD) is so slick it could wipe out an entire coastline's worth of cormorants down Cornwall way. Track three of three, ‘Waterman's Baby’, is a little more menacing, full of earth-quaking bass lines, but still possesses a commercial sheen that suggests that The Dopamine Theory really might have that special something that makes the difference between a "thanks, but no thanks" from a label and genuine, enthusiastic feedback. Very much ‘could be’ then, if not quite ‘should be’ just yet.

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