Biography
Hailing from Los Angeles, Dummy shapes a refined take on noisy indie pop, offsetting ringing guitar lines, steady Motorik pulses, and melodic singing against dense distortion, saturated keyboards, and processed found sounds. Their initial recordings revealed a group steeped in crate-digging, weaving five decades of reference points into a cohesive style. The 2021 release Mandatory Enjoyment and a 2022 Sub Pop single positioned them alongside the acts they had drawn from so skillfully, while 2024’s Free Energy pushes further into dance-oriented grooves and new age-tinged sonic environments.
The quartet came together in the late 2010s when guitarists and vocalists Joe Trainor and Nathan O’Dell, both formerly of Wildhoney, joined forces with organist and vocalist Emma Maatman and drummer Alex Ewell. Local performances helped them refine a method that pulled equally from Stereolab, Broadcast, Silver Apples, and Cluster, acts known for pairing inventive textures with memorable tunes. Five songs were tracked in their rehearsal room, mixed by Joo Joo Ashworth of Froth, and issued by Pop Wig Records in May 2020. A second home-recorded EP, also mixed by Ashworth, followed in November and prompted Trouble in Mind Records to sign the band for a debut album. Captured partly at home and partly in the studio with Ashworth’s continued involvement, Mandatory Enjoyment retained the earlier sonic framework while venturing into shoegaze territory, incorporating electronic layers, and sharpening the arrangements; Trouble in Mind put the album out in October 2021.
In June 2022 the group contributed “Mono Retriever” and “Pepsi Vacuum” to Sub Pop’s Singles Club, staying within the approach established on their first LP. Sonic Cathedral compiled the two early EPs as Dumb E.P.s in September, offering newcomers a single entry point. For their follow-up album the members chose to move beyond prior methods, emphasizing electronics and studio experimentation. Working primarily at home, they incorporated computers, integrated field recordings captured on tour, and introduced elements drawn from new age and dance music while collaborating with experimental artists Jen Powers and Cole Pulice. Trouble in Mind released the resulting Free Energy in September 2024.
The quartet came together in the late 2010s when guitarists and vocalists Joe Trainor and Nathan O’Dell, both formerly of Wildhoney, joined forces with organist and vocalist Emma Maatman and drummer Alex Ewell. Local performances helped them refine a method that pulled equally from Stereolab, Broadcast, Silver Apples, and Cluster, acts known for pairing inventive textures with memorable tunes. Five songs were tracked in their rehearsal room, mixed by Joo Joo Ashworth of Froth, and issued by Pop Wig Records in May 2020. A second home-recorded EP, also mixed by Ashworth, followed in November and prompted Trouble in Mind Records to sign the band for a debut album. Captured partly at home and partly in the studio with Ashworth’s continued involvement, Mandatory Enjoyment retained the earlier sonic framework while venturing into shoegaze territory, incorporating electronic layers, and sharpening the arrangements; Trouble in Mind put the album out in October 2021.
In June 2022 the group contributed “Mono Retriever” and “Pepsi Vacuum” to Sub Pop’s Singles Club, staying within the approach established on their first LP. Sonic Cathedral compiled the two early EPs as Dumb E.P.s in September, offering newcomers a single entry point. For their follow-up album the members chose to move beyond prior methods, emphasizing electronics and studio experimentation. Working primarily at home, they incorporated computers, integrated field recordings captured on tour, and introduced elements drawn from new age and dance music while collaborating with experimental artists Jen Powers and Cole Pulice. Trouble in Mind released the resulting Free Energy in September 2024.
Albums
Singles
