Darwin Deez: Darwin Deez

Deez is Darwin Smith, a New Yorker who resembles a hipster cousin of Napoleon Dynamite, with his striking mass of curls and penchant for dorky dance routines. His music seems similarly geared towards fans of cultish US indie flicks: a determinedly lo-fi blend of puttering drum machines, snappy guitar riffs and lovelorn whimsy. At its best, the result suggests a hybrid of the Moldy Peaches and the Strokes, matching the former's humour with the latter's itchy rhythms, but there aren't enough memorable tunes to stop his minimal sonic palette from grating.