Alright, here’s the thing. You might be a musically talented band, but if your producer gets sole or part writing credit on EVERY song on your record, then there’s a problem. That’s the case with DAG, an R&B/pop group from North Carolina, signed to Columbia and produced by John Custer. Custer is best known for his work with Corrosion Of Conformity and Cry Of Love, who are incidentally both from North Carolina.
“Righteous (City Pain)” is a song that goes nowhere and features more white boy crooning than I care to hear. There’s nothing really earth shattering here. “Your Mama’s Eyes” features more of that good ol’ white-boy funk that was so prevalent in the ‘90s. But this is just crap that doesn’t get better with age. “Home” is more of the same; gimme the remote so I can mute the hell out of this junk!
The creepily titled “You Can Lick It (If You Try)” just doesn’t work as a slow song. It comes off very creepy and shows the band’s flaws. If they couldn’t write a song better than their producer’s by themselves, then there was no point in even carrying on. “Even So” comes off like classic ‘70s sounding Earth, Wind & Fire, a sound that was oh-so-popular in 1994. Gimme a break, for God’s sake!
Suffice to say, this is a band that was promoted and sponsored by an abundance of major label money that was used to promote garbage that the general public sufficiently ignored. Records like this wound up in bargain bins across the country to gather dust. I myself picked this disc up for ten cents, so needless to say, I got my money’s worth! The band waited another four years for their next record, which also went straight to the cutout bin. They have since disappeared and no one has heard a peep since.
