Dotsun Moon – Tiger
Buffalo’s Dotsun Moon trades the precise architecture of synthpop for the sprawling, emotive wash of shoegaze guitars on the project’s newest release, Tiger. The recording project of multi-instrumentalist Richard Flierl, Dotsun Moon has always been prolific, but this eight-song collection feels like a deliberate statement. Drawing a direct line to the grandeur of M83’s Before The Dawn Heals Us and the seminal post-punk of New Order, Flierl swaps programmed beats for soaring textures, creating an album that is expansive, atmospheric, and unique. Tiger is our album of the week.
The album marks a significant turning point for the Dotsun Moon project, not only in its sonic direction but in its execution. For the first time, Flierl handles all vocal duties, a departure from the prominence of female vocals featured on much of his previous work. This shift brings a new, personal-feeling cohesion to the album, with his voice acting as a steady anchor. Having performed all the guitar, bass, keyboard, and drum parts himself, the album is a singular vision of Flierl’s brought to life by the engineering and mastering touches of Doug White at Watchmen Studios in Lockport.
Tiger‘s first half is defined by this new, guitar-forward approach. Tracks like the opener “Bring Love” and the standout “Give Up the Tears” build dense walls of sound where shimmering guitar leads and bright synth lines swirl around propulsive drum tracks. It’s a refreshing take on the genre, particularly in the vocal production; Flierl’s voice is often pushed forward in the mix, cutting through the shoegaze haze with a presence that recalls the post-punk urgency of bands like Echo and the Bunnymen, rather than being buried as another textural layer.
The soaring guitars of the first half eventually give way to the percussive weight of a piano, plunging the record into a heavier, more shadowed space. After the brief, aching interlude of “Piano Trailer Melody 4,” the slow-burning theatrical trudge of “Winter Street” captures that latter-half noir perfectly. This descent finds its destination in the closer and album highlight “Army of Me,” continuing the piano theme while adding a prominent backbeat and droning guitars that give the track an almost narcotic quality. It’s a powerful and fittingly contemplative end to the album.
In a local scene with few acts exploring this territory, Tiger stands apart. It’s a record that successfully pulls new wave out of the museum, roughing up its polished surfaces with a shoegaze grit that feels entirely current. The move away from programmed beats toward a more organic, instrument-first approach doesn’t present like a reinvention, so much as an arrival. This feels like the sound Flierl has been working toward–a focused, ambitious, and deeply-felt album that perfectly blends the best parts of new wave, post-punk, and shoegaze.
Categorised in: Album of the Week
This post was written by Ronald Walczyk