By Jack Randall

Dinosaur Bones
My Divider
Dine Alone

At first listen, Dinosaur Bones’ My Divider can be summed up in one word—boring.  But then you realize there’s more there to it than what you garner from a casual listen.  Without drowning in complexity, Dinosaur Bones adds bricks to a subtle wall of sound to create something beyond pop rock.  Their music, like their name, is a skeletal framework on which one can picture flesh and skin.

On “Making Light” and “Sharks in the Sand” there is something almost Smiths-like in its approach.  A smoothly wallowing verse from vocalist Ben Fox sneaks up on you, and just as you’re about to say to yourself “heard it before” and move on, you’re struck by the way the vocals and music completely integrate with one another, ebbing and flowing in slowly churning musical swells.

A more charged “Bombs in the Night” picks things up before throwing you into the faster-yet “N.Y.E.”  “Hunters” is your last chance at rock as the album delves into softer, even more layered structures that require a little more concentration.

“Point of Pride” and “Royalty” are the more memorable tracks from the back end, standing out amongst the less flashy gems, but “Ice Hotels” manages a haunting familiarity.  The title track “My Divider” ends the album in a slow culmination of all sounds heard prior.

With their layered guitars, buttery vocals, and driving bass Dinosaur Bones have a lot going for them.  I would be more interested in a live show that would break up some of the potential monotony of the album, but if they keep this up they could easily shatter the music industry’s dreaded Sophomore Album Curse on a second outing.