
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
It's A Corporate World
Quite Scientific
2011
Buy This Album
What do you get when two of Detroit's best and brightest songwriters team up? The answer is Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., a stripped-down indie pop group with heavy electronic influences (poptronica?) whose silly name and catchy music has helped make a name for themselves.
At a glance, it would be easy to dismiss DEJJ as a gimmick. They wear NASCAR driving suits on stage, their name is borderline ridiculous, and the portrait on their debut album's cover where the duo wear gaudy plaid-patterned suits in an intentionally cheesy family-photo-style pose is cringe-worthy. The band's music trascends their goofy image, however, and has caught on nationwide, appearing in television shows, garnering plenty of attention in both the mainstream and independent press, and from an evergrowing fanbase.
As a result of their newfound popularity, it's difficult to tell what will become of both singers' other bands. I've made no secret of my love for Josh Epstein's The Silent Years, and Daniel Zott's The Great Fiction have also produced some of the most perfectly crafted pop-rock of the last decade. Zott is also a member of the Victorious Secrets, the band best known for their FreeCreditScore.com TV adverts. What started as a fun side project for the prolific songwriters has now become a full-time gig, and for the time being their original groups seem to be on temporary hiatus.
That makes it somewhat difficult for me - a native Detroiter and fan of both singers' other projects - to review It's A Corporate World fairly. You might think I'm predisposed to love it, but the truth is that I couldn't help but compare DEJJ to bands like The Silent Years and The Great Fiction. I realize it's an unfair comparison to make, but the bands are inexorably linked.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.'s lo-fi electronic pop is a far cry from the complex arrangements found in Epstein or Zott's other bands, but it stands on its own with irresistable hooks, excellent harmonies, and striking melodies - with just a touch of experimental weirdness.