Dios (Malos)
Zilker Park, Sept. 23
Following in the footsteps of recent forebears like Pavement and Weezer, Hawthorne, Calif.’s Dios (Malos) play low-key indie-pop girded with melodic subtleties likely to draw Beach Boys comparisons simply because of their shared birthplace. Their new, self-titled album on StarTime International is full of sweetly melancholic left turns, but translating such nuances to a hot festival stage isn’t easy. The band’s uneven Friday afternoon performance reflected that. Opening with “Feels Good Being Somebody,” the quartet quickly found the acoustic elements of their sound downwind from Kasabian. At one point, otherwise affable guitarist/keyboardist Joel Morales pointed a middle finger in the direction of the bleeding noise. Although they didn’t appear to be enjoying themselves much, Dios (Malos) soldiered through consummately. The sound situation improved once Morales plugged in, particularly on the groove-laden “I Want It All.” The band also fared reasonably well with “You Got Me All Wrong,” their O.C.-approved paean to shattered love. Wrapping up with “Goin’ Home,” Dios (Malos) eschewed the big finish for an unassuming exit. Underamplified in the triple digits, what would’ve made perfect sense in a club couldn’t help but languish here.
This article appears in September 30 • 2005.