John Frusciante - DC EP

Released in September 2004; DC EP was the third in the series of albums by John Frusciante. In a change from previous records, where Josh Klinghoffer drummed; it was another of John's favourite drummers called Jerry Busher who took the role. The reason behind the name DC EP was because the record was recorded in Inner Ear Studios in Washington DC which is where Fugazi recorded many of their records. The link between Fugazi and Jerry was that he was Fugazi's sound tech guy. Although it has the least number of tracks and is the shortest in length out of the six albums, at only 14 minutes and 45 seconds; it certainly does not disappoint.

The four tracks are `Dissolve', `Goals', `A Corner' and `Repeating'. The songs all have the same feel about them. I wouldn't say any of them really stand out but at the same time there are certainly no fillers. They are all good solid, chilled-out songs with grooves which are now instantly recognisable as Frusciante's own. The way the songs twist and turn is one of the key features. In addition there is not really any repetition. For me this keeps things interesting and refreshing, in an age where many bands have standard formulas for writing songs.

Sometimes I wonder what genre Frusciante's music would come under, obviously some albums come under different genres, for example `Sphere' I would put under electonica and `Ataxia' I would put under prog rock. But it is becoming apparent that many of his albums including this one, `Will to death', `shadows' and `to record', fall in to the one. Although each going in different directions, I would describe them generally as soft melodic rock with a jagged edge delivered through John's passionate vocals. There is an air of simplicity which surrounds the songs on these albums. Furthermore he achieves sounds and effects which enhance them into another dimension. It's not as straight forward as just calling it stripped down, soft, melodic rock/pop. In fact you could call it progressive melodic rock/pop. Although the length is not reminiscent of what you would usually associate with prog rock bands. The song structures, instruments used and effects achieved definitely are progressive. As they push conventional, soft rock/pop songs to another level.

Overall this is a great release, and certainly one to add to the collection. The four tracks act like a team, each contributing evenly to make this an all round quality EP; full of heavenly music.