Album Details

• Artist: Dashboard Madonna
• EP:
Neon Life
• Label: Dashboard Madonna
• Year of Release: 2012
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: carlita on 2012-03-26

Reading that Dashboard Madonna's band name was inspired by an Elton John song about repossessing a wrecked car "as the dashboard Madonna smiled back at us kindly", amusingly piqued my interest in this group. Listening to their EP, Neon Life,  for the first time all the way through, the lyrics to Prince's Pop Life floated in my head- "Life, it ain't that funky unless it's got that pop".  The word "pop" is the perfect word all around- not just the style of music but the cover's colors pop and grab your attention, designed in the ironic and parody pop art style, starting from the overweight woman in an sexy, suggestive pose in the band's logo to the image of Mary, the iconic Savior's mother in a neon hoodie/robe.

The EP, a diverse sampling of songs, available on the group's website for sale in Europe and  will be released in the US on Amazon's site in May, presents a potential satire of American culture and the things we hold dear- hot chicks, scandal, and athletic prowess. Dashboard Madonna starts things off with a funky 80's sounding cover of British thrash metal band, Motörhead's Dead Man Tell No Tales about cutting ties with a friend now on the wrong side of the tracks. Starting from Scratch, my fav track on the EP channeled an addictive Cardigans' "Love Fool" disco style. Up and Away features a prominent bassline and Sascha Carl, the group's guitarist and producer on lead vocal with a Meshell Ndeogeocello "If That's Your Boyfriend" vibe. Slam Dunked, which could be ideal for the theme song for VH-1's "Basketball Wives", touts the perfect reality TV message that if you ain't got game on the court, you get no play off the court. Neon Life provides an eclectic blend of 70's and 80's Steely Dan and Blondie "Heart of Glass" and "Rapture" pop rock with the purring of a Sheila E" Glamorous Life"/ Vanity "Sex Shooter" with lyrics  like " forget the villains, it's the girls you want to see". If you're an aspiring spy/model/journalist/fiction writer, you'll find what you're looking for here.

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