Sound Advice

dada, “How To Be Found,” (Blue Cave)

With this week’s release of their first album since ‘98, L.A. power-pop trio Dada is in full-throttle mode, hitting 31 cities in little over a month’s time. Their Beatlesque harmonies, bizarro album covers, tight musicianship and onstage stamina have never quite gotten their due, but you never know: The new disc, How To Be Found, has a post-punk, back-to-analog sound that keeps it real, with enough dreamy harmonies to keep it radio-friendly.

- Nicole Pensiero

Source: Philadelphia City Paper

How To Be Found

Many readers will remember this Southern California trio for their four major label albums in the ’90s, the top five modern rock hit “Diz Knee Land,” and the sharp eared among you may even know that Dada’s “I’m Feeling Nothing” was the first song featured in the The Brady Bunch Movie! After a four-year hiatus, during which time members Michael Gurley and Phil Leavitt formed a band called Butterfly Jones (who released a fine album in 2001), Dada is back strong with a new album, How To Be Found. Read the rest of this entry »

Finding dada

Dada’s back.

For a lot of you reading this, nothing more beyond those two words is needed. Dada is a band with a phenomenal cult following, and that following has waited six long years for new stuff. The band is unfortunately still best known amongst the general public for "Dizz Knee Land," their quirky novelty song from 1992, which just reinforces one of the cardinal rules of career longevity: never lead with a novelty song. Dada never did another tune like it, and four unjustly ignored albums later, they broke up. But they left those four albums, and every one of them is worth tracking down and owning, particularly Puzzle and El Subliminoso. Read the rest of this entry »

Quick Hits – December 2003

Dada: Live: Official Bootleg Volume I

After a four-year hiatus from both recording and touring, L.A.’s power-pop trio Dada has now officially resurfaced. They recently finished an extensive national tour in support of their newly released, first-ever live CD, which was recorded in Santa Ana, California this past July. Read the rest of this entry »

Orange Pop

Dada: Live: Official Bootleg Volume I

It’s appropriate that the best rock trio to emerge since the early 1990s has issued its first official live collection on Santa Ana-based Coach House Records. After all, guitarist Michael Gurley, bassist Joie Calio and drummer Phil Leavitt may be based in L.A., but the band performed its first official show at the Coach House in 1991 (opening for Mary’s Danish), and the new CD was recorded at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana on July 19. Read the rest of this entry »

Dada: Live: Official Bootleg Volume I

For those born in the last 20 years or so, let me clue you in on something. There used to be this thing called ROCK. It was played by these people called MUSICIANS. They were extremely talented people who had put in their time learning their craft. Whether they were a great guitarist like Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton or a phenomenal drummer such as Stewart Copeland or Neil Peart, they were people whom it seemed devoted their whole life (or a big chunk of it) to playing music and being masters of their instruments. Read the rest of this entry »

How many times have you noted with some initial excitement that a band you used to love, after a long absence from touring and releasing albums, is going to be appearing at a local club? How many times have you said to yourself, “Wow, I always wondered what happened to those guys, maybe I should go see them”? And, how many times have you said “No. The last time I did that, it wasn’t even the same lineup, and I was really disappointed”? Read the rest of this entry »