CD Review: The dB’s - Falling Off The Sky

The dB’s have been making the occasional new song available on their website for some time now, but Falling Off The Sky is the first official album with all four original members since Repercussion in 1981. Peter Holsapple, Gene Holder, Chris Stamey, and Will Rigby are all on board, along with power pop compatriot Mitch Easter, who helps out on guitar and with some of the production. Falling Off The Sky is filled with the band's distinctive harmoniess and legendary sense of melody. Not everything works, but there’s plenty of good material for fans to embrace.

All 12 tracks are well-crafted, but “Collide-oOo-Scope” and “She Won’t Drive in the Rain Anymore” are overly theatrical and run too long, while “I Didn’t Mean To Say That” feels a little generic. Stamey’s ambitious “The Adventures of Albatross and Doggerel” takes chances, but works, while Holsapple’s “That Time Is Gone” mixes social commentary with a hard-edged arrangement. Rigby’s twangy “Write Back” and Holsapple’s irresistible “World To Cry” stand as classic dB’s material.