There are some bands you can’t believe took so long to find. DM3 is one of those bands for me. I don’t have Sirius but my friend Ted tells me just about every other time I see him that *HE* has it, and is always spooging over some such or other that Little Steven’s Underground Garage has been spinning. One day Ted laid a copy of DM3’s “Dig It the Most” on me. The superhooky lines dug in immediately and it was the line “I want to be a big star” that tipped the hat to what these guys were about. I was in. A new band! A new band even my power pop fiends haven’t heard of! FFFan-tastic. I looked up their (nonexistent) MySpace and tracked down their bio info on AllMusic.com. “What do you mean they broke up in 1998?!”
Headed by ex-Lime Spider and Stems lead singer Dom Mariani, the Perth, Australia group reigned from 1993 to 1998. Their “Road to Rome” is listed in the top picks of Not Lame’s “Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide.” “Dig It the Most” is as good a place to start as any — a 20 track compilation of powerpop goo goodness — culled from their first 2 EPs and 3 LPs (they would bow out with 2 more EPs and a final LP).
“Dig It the Most” is one stop shopping — from the kick off track “Can’t Get What You Want” to the whipsmart 50s-kinked “Speedfreak” to lovelorn cranker “Second Floor.” Even the “Friends” theme-esque track “TV Sound” would become a favorite. Then there’s “1×2 Devastated,” “Hold On,” “Far From Here,” “Like This” and “Pleaze You.” And and and.
RIYL: Raspberries, Westerberg, Badfinger, Big Star
A few of and and and favorites:
No official site but a nice refresher here and a complete DM retrospective here.
Dom’s MySpace and his other band, The Stems.
And the Aussie$Exchange ain’t what it used to be but for more, go to Off the Hip.
