Damfino – One False Move And I’m Yours (2017)

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Snatching their name from a vessel in a Buster Keaton movie called The Boat, Damfino promotes pop rock radiating with wit and intelligence. And I am thrilled to say the Dumont, New Jersey band’s latest disc One False Move and I’m Yours steps in as a stone-cold testimony to their commitment to their craft.

Guided by an engaging interplay of catchy guitar chords, spunky vocals, thumping drumming and keyboards that tinkle, race and glide with life, One False Move and I’m Yours reels off one cool and clever tune after another. It’s obvious Damfino had a ton of fun in the studio, and their enthusiasm spills right out of the speakers.

Threaded with jumpy rhythms and frisky hooks, “Twenty Two Months” carries a pure pop beat, and the fast-paced “Visit to the Women’s Planet” injects a healthy shot of punk energy into the proceedings. A country bent surfaces on “Quarter One” before producing a run of the kind of jingly jangly magic found in a classic Byrds number.

Ear-damaging blasts of violent riffing mix well with lighter and quieter moments on both the wonderfully titled “You Are Every Shade of Urine to Me” and “American Healthcare,” while “Sequel to Clint” and “The Saddest Song You Never Heard” also rank as platinum prizes.

Echoes of bands like the dBs, the Go Betweens, Fountains of Wayne and Gigolo Aunts often arise in the grooves of One False Move and I’m Yours, yet there is no denying Damfino sports their own original vision. The band’s compelling configuration of melodic magnetism and left-field landscapes carpets every inch of One False Move and I’m Yours, pointing towards a recording that’s fresh and exciting.

Beverly Paterson