platters (2007-09)  We Got It All  Neil Young fetishes, simple
garage rock, mall emo, industrial mythology, metalcore shtick,
and the potential of sound   More so than Dolorean's previous
efforts (2003's Not Exotic and 2005's Violence in the Snowy
Fields ), You Can't Win sounds like the realization of a full
band coming together, rather than a somewhat glorified solo
project. Al James is still in control, but his cohorts make
their presence felt, especially new guitarist Emil Amos
(borrowed from the band Grails), who provides a looser, somewhat
flashier complement to James' acoustic strumming.
Stylistically, James' songs still dwell in a melancholy
landscape reminiscent of the darker corners of R.E.M.'s
Automatic For the People , with drifting piano and organ,
ghostly harmonies, and complex, reflective lyrics. The opening
track, "You Can't Win," sets the tone beautifully, as an ominous
percussive lead-in gives way to church-worthy keyboards and
James' somehow uplifting repetition of the song and album's defe