WOW!  I stumbled onto this CD while looking for something else and I am glad I did.  I had never heard of these guys before, but I am a big fan now.  Their music is original and it will stick inside your head like dark chocolate or really good single malt scotch (or both).  The more I listen, the more I like it.  These are quality musicians playing with a free and passionate style that is all their own.  No Roof but Heaven and Reluctant Superhero are proof of that and among my favorites.  If you like pretty voices, this band is not for you, but these songs don't need pretty voices.  If you like your music well played and your lyrics full of content, you will love this collection of songs.  Trust, for instance, is melodic, but the haunting question that it asks and the well-woven instrumentation grab you and hold your attention.  While their unique style, a blend of the best of southern rock with a tweak of Dylan, Mellencamp, is consistent through the entire CD there is a great deal of variety in the songs.  While Jericho Rocks rocks, and so do Birthday Cake and several other songs, the band serves up gritty balads such as Hermosa Beach, 6AM and Surrender.  Bullseye, the title song, and Down are raw but they work well in the context of the lyrics.  Easter Sunday evokes a hint of Yes and Pink Floyd without crossing the border into retroland.  One of my favorites, Old Cutler Road, flirts with blues, rock and jazz at the same time (how did they do that?), and Nobody's Girl paints a portrait of a girl I would really like to meet, I mean REALLY!   All in all, Dharma Bomb and BULLSEYE hit the bullseye.  It would have been six stars if the option had been available.  Thumbs up and hats off.
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Thompson and the Bomb's new release subtly kicks you in the ass with edgy thought-provoking lyrics like those that defined college rock before it sucked. Add some Ben Folds-like piano and a melding of psychedelic and southern rock guitar--like only the Alman Brothers typically deliver--and you have Bullseye, both a CD and a glimpse at one the brightest new bands in the South.
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This is a rock record that needs and deserves some attention. The band hails from the south of Florida and mix an eclectic blend of roots rock, folk, and blues to an auditory frenzy.
The mood changes from song to song as does the melody. Thompson's vocals can handle the mellow ballads as well as the wall shaking rock tune. Thompson also works the keyboards into a delicate but forceful weapon in the arsenal of the band. The timing of this CD is spot on, with ballads that would make Train look on in envy, and rockers that propel themselves to be heard. A roots rock album with all of the attack the 70s brought us with the desire of the 60s folk movement and the lyrical prowess of the 80s and beyond.
The smoking guitar work of Edelson is reminiscent of the Allman Brothers or early ZZ Top. The drumline and bass work take the CD into the next level molding a pseudo masterpiece of the musical variety. That is not to say the CD is perfect, but it is an awesome throwback to a time when artists did and played exactly what they felt, not what they were told to do. Boston recorded their music in a basement, The Dharma Bomb use Casa Dharma as their basement to hold you in with a raw escence of what and who they are.    
From the opening acoustic sound of "Jericho Rocks" which works itself into a great rock standard, to the southern rock styling of "Goodbye, The Dharma Bomb have got it going on. They know how to reel you in and hold you until the bitter end. A ghostly CD that rocks and rolls with the best of 'em. An unusual blend of sounds, but as a whole this CD works it's buns off to make a point, The Dharma Bomb are moving in with a vengeance, and deserve to be heard by all. Tracks of note "Old Cutler Road", "Trust", "Down, the hilarious "Birthday Cake" and of course "Jericho Rocks". The Dharma Bomb have a chemistry that for sure hit the Bullseye this time around. A pleasure.
( 5.5 Stars out of 6 )
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