Ignored             Obscured              Restored

Dots Will Echo is the brainchild of New Jerseyite, Nick Berry.  I have a copy of the band’s first, self-titled CD that was released on the Windham Hill label subsidiary, High Street, in 1991.  Hardly anyone heard the set, but it earned a Rolling Stone feature on “artists-to-watch” and was a #3 record in Sweden.  Go figure!

That version of the band included Berry (guitars and vocals), Bob Albanese (bass), and drummer Steve Meltzer.

The debut disc was full of power pop hooks.  Take, for instance, the compact “Sandra”.

These songs are templates for the work of another New Jersey-based group – Fountains of Wayne, of “Stacy’s Mom” fame.

Today, DWE is the duo of Berry and drummer Kurt Biroc.  They record for Sufjan Steven’s Asthmatic Kitty label.  Their recent, eclectic albums have been garnering very favorable reviews.

By the way… “dots will echo” is a term from the early days of the internet.  Instructions to enter a password were often followed with “(dots will echo)”, meaning that the PW would be masked using the “dots” everyone currently expects, making the phrase unnecessary today.

Enjoy… until next week.