The Dangerous Summer
Coming Home


3.1
good

Review

by Mathias STAFF
August 28th, 2022 | 41 replies


Release Date: 2022 | Tracklist

Review Summary: It turns out releasing the same album over and over again does eventually get boring.

It’s pretty much impossible to argue that The Dangerous Summer are a unique band. They have never striven to reinvent the wheel of alternative rock. They’ve never even really tried to reinvent the wheel when it comes to their own sound. They captured lightning in a bottle with their first two releases (and criminally underrated early EP), mastering the popular genre of catchy, angsty alternative rock that comes dangerously close to being optimistic. Some inner band turmoil led to a slight decline in quality (although still incredibly solid) and eventually led to a hiatus. When the band returned, they came back fresh, renewed, and released a couple albums and an EP worth of catchy, angsty alternative rock that comes dangerously close to being optimistic. 2019’s Mother Nature, their most recent full length, showed some signs of change, adding piano, electronic flourishes where before there was just guitar, bass, and drums, and playing with song structure in a way that they had been hesitant to do on their previous releases, which did bring some excitement about what the band might do in the future. Cue Coming Home, their newest full length that, unfortunately to no one’s surprise, consists of catchy, angsty alternative rock that comes dangerously close to being optimistic.

However, biggest difference between Coming Home and the band’s other previous releases is that the lightning appears to have slightly escaped the bottle. There are a couple of songs on the record that could rate among the band’s best and there are (arguably) no downright bad songs here, but outside of the couple of highlights, pretty much every song on Coming Home would rank among the worst on each of the band’s previous albums, even their weakest. The choruses aren’t quite as strong, AJ Perdomo’s lyrics, typically a highlight of the band, range from as strong as expected to forgettable to downright uncomfortable. They still maintain some of the piano and electronics from Mother Nature, but there are no “surprising” songs in terms of their approach to writing them. If anything, Coming Home sounds like the natural predecessor to Mother Nature as opposed to a sequel, as the band has mostly returned to their tried-and-true comfort zone. The use of additional instruments, particularly piano, and even a full acoustic song means that Coming Home can’t be confused with the band’s early work. But we are back to a largely verse-chorus-verse-chorus-brige-chorus structure and, while that mostly works due to the band’s songwriting abilities, it rarely feel exciting or engaging.

With that all being said, are some undeniable career highs for the band here. “Sideways” is a quintessential The Dangerous Summer song with the best chorus on the album and perhaps the strongest vocal performance of Perdomo’s career. A falsetto has been something he has rarely if ever utilized and it is somewhat surprising that his gruff and unique vocals are even capable of one, but it is incorporated very well throughout the album and particularly in “Sideways”. The Dangerous Summer have also always been a master of slow build ballads and “Meet Me in the Morning” is the best the band has produced since “Northern Lights”, a cut from Reach for the Sun, although Perdomo’s clunky yet earnest Spanish singing of the song title is sure to divide listeners. Of every other song on the album, the opening title track is perhaps the only other song that will make it into the canon of great songs in the band’s discography.

The rest of the album just seems to get the rote mechanics down, and while there does seem to certainly be a genuine impassioned performance there, they don’t quite give the emotional payoff that is needed for this basic structure to be excused, as it was on their earlier albums. The only song that could be argued to be “bad” would be “Someday”, but its biggest sin is its awkward and uncomfortable lyrics. “She let’s me go in her mouth” will forever be uncomfortable to hear and I’m not sure what the intended purpose of repeating “Someday I’ll learn to treat her right”, is, but it certainly does make for a morally gray listening space that is not a great one to reside in. However, the song itself is, at its worst, just boring; a building ballad that forgot to actually build. The rest of that album doesn’t have that problem, as it's fairly engaging to listen to when it's on, but once it’s over, no songs really stick in your head and it’s hard to think of a reason to turn it back on. For longtime listeners of The Dangerous Summer, it will just make you want to listen to the band at their strongest and it just won’t serve as a great introduction for newcomers to the band. From the way the band has talked about it, Coming Home seems to be an album that was very important to them, which is a wonderful and powerful thing. Unfortunately, for those of all that weren’t involved with the making of the album, that wonder and power didn’t seem to translate to the actual music itself.



Recent reviews by this author
Jude Brothers render tender / blunder sunderWunderhorse Cub
Noah Cyrus The Hardest PartThe Dear Hunter Antimai
Valleyheart Heal My HeadHarry Styles Harry's House
user ratings (53)
2.8
good


Comments:Add a Comment 
dmathias52
Staff Reviewer
August 28th 2022


1799 Comments

Album Rating: 3.1

The band's first EP is the best thing they've ever done and the first two album are still incredibly important to me (War Paint is the first cd I ever preordered). But after some welcome change on Mother Nature, the criticism that's been levied against them since their second album has actually finally come true



Feedback is welcome! Certainly feeling a bit rusty

Pikazilla
August 28th 2022


31198 Comments


band's output has always been bland, agreed

Pikazilla
August 28th 2022


31198 Comments


⚡⚡⚡

henryChinaski
August 28th 2022


5094 Comments


their last good album was Golden Record

onionbubs
August 28th 2022


22172 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

yea i j do not care about this lol not sure when ill get to it

Pikazilla
August 28th 2022


31198 Comments


jesper has overall good taste but sometimes very questionable takes

dmathias52
Staff Reviewer
August 28th 2022


1799 Comments

Album Rating: 3.1

I actually quite liked the production choices here, they just didn't do anything with them. As good as Mother Nature was, I'd be absolutely happy with another War Paint (my favorite of theirs outside of that opening EP which I will keep saying so people listen to). If it's jam packed with hooks and excitement, I'll take it. I don't come to them for something different, although I def welcome it when it happens

Colton
August 28th 2022


15757 Comments


some of the worst album art I've ever seen

Koris
Staff Reviewer
August 29th 2022


21957 Comments


She lets me go in her mouth

Crawl
August 29th 2022


2951 Comments


Band turned to crap after Mother Nature.

LotionLord
August 29th 2022


211 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Someday might be the only song I've heard where the lyrics made me genuinely uncomfortable.

joshieboy
August 30th 2022


8323 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

First 4 songs are passable and l like Polarity but the rest is a bit eh

Lasssie
August 30th 2022


2082 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Pretty inoffensive stuff

Probably closer to a 2.5 or 2 but i have a soft spot for these guys lol

mynameischan
Staff Reviewer
August 30th 2022


2407 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

This is pretty much a fine album. There are some great songs here but a few forgettable ones.



I agree that the lyric about busting in his girlfriend’s mouth while getting road head is very strange in an already pretty cringeworthy song

joshieboy
August 31st 2022


8323 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

This coming out at least made me go back and listen to their older stuff again.

joshieboy
August 31st 2022


8323 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

It is easily my least favourite but tbh, l haven't listened to it in a while. I was partial to Reach For The Sun for a while but l got older and Golden Record spoke to me more.

mynameischan
Staff Reviewer
August 31st 2022


2407 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Meet Me in the Morning is really good

dmathias52
Staff Reviewer
August 31st 2022


1799 Comments

Album Rating: 3.1

Meet Me in the Morning is an easy second favorite after Sideways

I’ve always been partial to War Paint, but I’m going to keep hyping If You Could Only Keep Me Alive, their EP from before Reach For the Sun. I think it’s their best and honestly one of the best collections of song in this type of genre. The energy on it is infectious and the hooks are incredible

dmathias52
Staff Reviewer
August 31st 2022


1799 Comments

Album Rating: 3.1

The EP is definitely more raw and immature and it may just be nostalgia talking, but it still hits every time I listen

Point1
August 31st 2022


863 Comments


she lets me go in her mouth



You have to be logged in to post a comment. Login | Create a Profile





STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS // CONTACT US

Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


Site Copyright 2005-2023 Sputnikmusic.com
All Album Reviews Displayed With Permission of Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy