Happy Dagger has charisma and talent, but they lack the ability to keep things short and sweet. The songs on “Questions About Art” that work – the haunting “Stray Lullabye” and the lilting “Art” – are the product of restraint and subtlety. The songs that don’t work – the oddly festive protest song “How Long?” and the overwrought “Stranger” – are the result of aiming too high.

Upon first listen, the band’s influences seem like an obvious mix of the Dave Matthews Band and Guster, but other forebears creep out slowly. There’s a touch of Steely Dan in “What You Did,” and a little bit of the local band Spaghetti Western in the pretty instrumentals. These instrumentals fare better than the longer cuts on the record, because it’s clear these guys can outplay the average jam band.
What Happy Dagger lacks, for now, is focus.

The band is still very young – they formed in Boston in 2004 – and this record sounds like it. But it also sounds like a band that’s going places and is sure to gain followers as they continue to record and tour. If they can rein in their ambition a little bit more, the next album will be great, instead of just impressive. DB

www.happydaggermusic.com