De Novo Dahl is about to drop its debut for Roadrunner Records, but don’t let that scare you off. The gently rocking Nashville band is nothing like Slipknot, nor is it much like Nickelback — or the Dresden Dolls, for that matter. The eclectic quintet is closest to the Dolls, playing lively, feel-good tunes like “Heartbreaker” and “Make Some Sense” that have mildly psychedelic background squiggles, which sound like they’re racing to keep up with Mixta Huxtable’s propulsive drums. Even if the songs don’t make you dance, you’ll probably still feel like jumping around a little.
This article appears in Apr 2-8, 2008.