There’s something inherently happy-sad about grainy holiday videos. The Dream Machine (‘acid pop from the Wirral Peninsula’) appear to be having the time of their lives in the video for ‘Things That Make Us Cry’ – a sensible juxtaposition for a band intent on ‘decoding the happy/sad equation worked out by The Beatles on ‘Golden Slumbers’.’ Songwriter and lead vocalist Zak McDonnell says,“I remember working on (‘Things That Make Us Cry’) in the morning on a piano in Toulouse on tour, with the sun beating through an open door. It’s a pretty sad song for such an amazing time.”
On said song, McDonnell sounds like a weary, wistful Alex Turner while the band manically create a swirl of sound that is as much Motown as it is fairground delight. If their second intention was to convey the glamour of walking along the beach on a summer’s evening in 1964, then it’s fair to say that they have achieved this as well. “And if you want to / Rest your head on my shoulder / We can talk through the night / About things that make us cry.” Has sadness ever sounded so lovely?
‘Things That Make Us Cry’ is taken from The Dream Machine’s third album, Fort Perch Rock, which will be released on 27th February via Run On Records. It follows 2024’s Small Time Monsters, which was produced by James Skelly, frontman for The Coral, who have been supported by the psychedelic Wirral dwellers. On 27th March, they’ll be celebrating the new album by performing at Liverpool’s O2 Academy.
‘Things That Make Us Cry’ is out now on a multitude of platforms here.
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Review by Neil Laurenson
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