This is a review of "Solarise EP" recorded by Dusty Not Digital. The review was written by Richard Garnett in 2007.

In their list of influences on MySpace, Dusty Not Digital do a particularly good job of trying to draw you away from the truth. By a cunning clerical error they fail to list Muse as if they are saying “We sound like who sorry? ... Mush? ... No …who … oh Muse … no, never heard of them.” Gosh what a coincidence. Well not unlike many others influenced (HEAVILY) by Matt Bellamy and Co, DND spend the best part of this six song romp cleverly and very proficiently imitating. It’s a real shame as clearly there is a great deal of talent and inventiveness at work and the pale references to Radiohead, a band that Muse ironically emulated in their early work ring fairly hollow. Still this is all very serious and diligent and no-one can really be criticised for sounding like the music they love, otherwise there would be no bands. Opener “Magnificent Desolation” never really reaches the epic scale it is aiming for, instead feeling leaden in parts. “Electric World” ups the anti and powers through, while “Consumed” and “Return to Grace” show a good ear for contrast between soft and all-balls-out. The latter with its skank verse is an impressive composition even if vocalist Luke Hirst sounds like he has trousers full of itching powder. “Brain Dead Paramedic” is a song about every day life in Bradford… of course it’s not, with a title like that it’s clearly about some imagined and “deep” subject, but fortunately musically it doesn’t carry any of the same pretentiousness. Church organ drenched closer “Dead Skies” is more clever-clever effects laden stuff, but as with all the songs on offer here it lacks that certain soul. Perhaps the emulation is too heavy in the ratio and the true personality of DND never really gets to the fore, knocking out more what they think they should be doing rather than really letting them selves open up. Impressive sounding and mature for their years, DND will need something of their own if they are not to be discounted as just another clever Muse tribute band.