Love Games

posted in: Music News • Pop

Plenty of amazing things have come out of basements: treasure maps, original copies of the Constitution, full suits of armor”not to mention countless musical acts. Like The Dotted Eyes. Begat in a Bostonian cellar, this quintet crafts toothsome indie pop with acoustic and electric guitars, bass, drums and synths. Singers/guitarists Neil Mittal and Raquel Barrientos trade off vocal duties”his, wistful and soft and hers clear and piercing. Waiting builds in layers, dreamy acoustic guitar and quiet vocals first, then shuffling rhythms and synths that pop the melody into third gear. Similarly, Embers casts a spell with hypnotic, echoing layers of guitars and pianos, and Barrientos’s luminous multi-tracked harmonies. But it’s not all ether and gossamer. Glimpse is homespun indie pop confection that paints a picture of childhood battles and the rocky romantic relationships that follow. When it comes to love, The Dotted Eyes have clearly put some skin in the game. But those kinds of emotional scars are what make everything more interesting.