After crooning wistfully, playfully even, "I'll write a pretty song, and then she'll come back to me," Daniel Francis Doyle breathes heavily four times and then proceeds to thrash about on his guitar and throw himself down a flight of stairs while hitched to his one-man-band setup. At least, that's what I make of this spastic racket. While abusing oneself via a staircase and a drum kit is probably the ultimate most badass form of self-loathing, merely being able to produce such an infectious exorcism of noise runs a close second.
Who Are Your Customers? is the first release by Dan Doyle, who performs alone as a one-man-band and lends his drumming skills to Austin, Texas bands Tuxedo Killers and When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth. Blending spastic punk and a chaotic din with elements of math rock, Doyle's solo output is not for the weak-stomached. The LP changes styles and time signatures so frequently, you're bound to be put on edge, if not entirely compelled. It's background music for the clinically insane, and the album lasts just long enough to give you a glimpse into his glass-shard heart without breaking any skin.
Perhaps a result of my residual teen angst, or maybe due to a bias toward one-man-bands in general, I'm inclined to say that this LP has all the necessary ingredients to soundtrack (if not induce) mental breakdown. And that's some high praise. Doyle's screaming, pleading, exhalations, crashing symbols and bursts of white noise guitar work together toward disturbing perfection, and his is a live act I await with baited, heavy breaths.
