Mammal Dap gives Take a sneak peek of their upcoming EP, and offers us a not-so-tiny live show at The Barnhouse.
It’s time you heard about Mammal Dap.
Making melodies so catchy and singular that they feel slightly familiar, Mammal Dap’s EP Deep Field, to be launched February 23, brings listeners more of its signature style of super tight, sometimes funky, always optimistic psych fusion featuring furious guitar (Killian Karlsson), expert beat-keeping (Reed Sutherland bass and synth bass, Colin Jalbert drums and samples), and wild keys (Zack Cross). It’s like these melodies, songs, and tiny electronic musings have always existed, but Mammal Dap was there to tap into the ether, and record them for our eternal enjoyment.
(left to right) Zack Cross and Killian Karlsson
These four boys hail from Western Massachusetts, a region known more for its punks and indie rockers than its exclusively instrumental producers. Mammal Dap, however, seems right at home in a music scene constantly creating something new from something not so old. And The Kids, for example, borrow a bit of their sound from early folk rock, then imaginatively tailor their music and lyrical content for a much stranger, queerer future wasteland. In a similar way, Mammal Dap’s recordings call up a time of quartets and trios, devious jazz fusion demigods and early Moog modulators, all made simultaneously contemporary and timeless through obsessively precise arrangements, intriguing samples and, most of all, a lot of fun.
At times, Mammal Dap’s music gets intense and even heavy, layering lots of deep synth, bass, guitar, and wild fills, but always lands on the side of cool and tight. To get a full range of the soaring solos, catchy beats, earworm melodies, sexy guitar, and breakdowns, peep PRMLMND when the Deep Field drops.
Mammal Dap is one of those rare bands whose live sound is nearly as tight as the record—yet the band isn’t afraid to depart a bit. Since each member is literally a master at the machine they pick and slap, Dap’s members can knowingly improvise and reinterpret their illustrious, sparkling melodies. Solos abound during a Mammal Dap performance, but they’re not the typical extended musical rants that often bog down an otherwise energetic genre. Dap’s members offer mini, often momentary, musical departures from the melodies you love; like the twist end of a short story or a small secret you never knew you needed to know.
Deep Field to be released February 24, 2017 | Cover art by Josh Unsderfer at Conifer Studios
Mammal Dap is a psych-fusion band from Northampton, Massachusetts. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram to listen to their upcoming EP Deep Field, and be sure to look out for their forthcoming New England tour.
