Despite the band name, New York quintet
Dirty on Purpose plays a notably clean-toned take on the kind of hypnotic dream pop perfected by the likes of
Yo La Tengo, lacking that band's fondness for feedback and distortion. Nonetheless, the combination of charmingly artless male and female voices will be familiar to
YLT fans, as will the unhurried motorik-style rhythms and droning guitar lines of songs like the pulsating opener, "All New Friends." "Mind Blindness" adds the reverb-soaked sonics of the U.K. shoegazer bands, and the hushed, cello-enhanced acoustic tune "Cheat Death" brings in the requisite
Nick Drake influence. So there's very little that's new about
Sleep Late for a Better Tomorrow, but
Dirty on Purpose does their influences proud on this pleasant, low-key debut. ~ Stewart Mason