Dntel, for those who don't know, is just one man and that man is Jimmy Tamborello. Tamborello, for those who don't know, is the man that was responsible for putting the beats together for The Postal Service's excellent 2003 album Give Up that also featured Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard and Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis. Since then though Tamborello has had a tough time finding consistent footing. His James Figurine album from last year was terribly inconsistent and unfortunately Dntel's first proper release since 2001 has the same problem.

Dumb Luck is rife with guest spots but most of them add little to making Tamborello's new album memorable. The problem I have with guest spots from the likes of Connor Oberst (Bright Eyes) Edward Droste (Grizzly Bear) and Jenny Lewis is that they all sound like outtakes from what could be their own records. Tamborello puts musically accompaniment to their voices that is so boring that you wonder why these artists even bothered to show up. Lali Puna's guest spot on "I'd Like To Know" however is admittedly pretty good (most likely because Lali Puna helped with the beats I'm sure) but the surefire winner on Dumb Luck is without a doubt "Rock My Boat" that features the icy vocals of Mia Doi Todd. Todd's heartbreaking vocals and the minimal beats by Tamborello make "Rock My Boat" the one track that completely stands out. Dumb Luck is by no means horrible but with so many other great albums that have come out in recent months, Dumb Luck is for diehard fans of Tamborello's work or all the other artists mentioned above only.