Dragonette lacks fire

A wiser fellow than myself once said, "if you're not gonna say something nice, don't say anything at all." I say wiser because I tend to push myself into awkward situations for lack of a "nice" filter between my mouth and my mind. Having said that....

The only nice thing I can say about Dragonette is that the crowd that showed up to see them yesterday at the Commodore Ballroom was funky. Since I was buying the tickets, I found it quite suspicious that their profile comment on their Myspace was a self-applauding: "Best New Band Juno Nomination!!!!!!!" (yes, eight exclamation marks)

Was it an expression of surprise at having been nominated? If yes, what do I think of a band that doesn't even believe in itself (i.e. no true rockstar can escape the egocentric belief that his band is the best on earth)? If no, do they really have to brag about it? Aren't we supposed to be able to tell if a band is great just by listening to their music? (Vampire Weekend's music speaks for itself: >3 million plays in their Myspace!)

Let's face it, no self respecting band needs to tell you they won an award in order for you to appreciate them. In the case of Dragonette v. Amigo, it worked quite the opposite way: I spent the whole show wondering what part of their songs was the one I was supposed to like. I had assumed that, at least, the music would make me want to leave my comfortable chair in the bar to go sweat with the crowd. But after six songs and a cold pint, the only thing that made me leave my chair was the promise of a slice of late night pizza on Granville. As we left the Commodore, my girlfriend, almost inadvertently, delivered the coup de grâce with a simple: "what was that award you said they won?"

Great expectations are a bitch.