Review Summary: tfw she doesn't let you go in her mouth :/
The wholesome story of The Dangerous Summer has been getting harder and harder to buy into. Without getting into any specifics, the band's persistently rotating cast of dudes led by substance aficionado AJ Perdomo simply don't seem like the greatest or kindest people. So what, big deal - the music's still good, right? Eh. The “separate the art from the artist” argument probably would've worked some fifteen years ago, but ever since returning from a hiatus, the band have been asking listeners to buy into their
emotional arc in a rather explicit manner. Hell, their 2019 opus
Mother Nature starts with a voicemail outlining how loved the frontman is and how he's been going through some tough times. It's an album that succeeded because of this intense and deliberate emotional approach, and paired it with surprisingly delicate songwriting and gorgeously atmospheric production choices.
Fast forward some years,
Coming Home arrives. It lacks the songwriting and quality production, and the band have proven themselves to be quite dedicated to ignoring social safety for the sake of some cash (while proclaiming it's “
all about the music, duuuude”... anyway). Sure, the album delivered some lyrical gems a la “
she lets me go in her mouth” and “
she's nothing like the ones out on the road”, but it ultimately showed that The Dangerous Summer weren't exactly worth rooting for, nor were they competent songwriters without a good producer. Now, two years later, the press release for
Gravity states that “
the audience is more family than fanbase…” and appears self-aware of the band's recent sonic missteps in its very first lyrics. Is it enough for them to redeem themselves?
Not really. Don't get me wrong:
Gravity is a perfectly fine alternative rock record. Its songs are competent, there's a bunch of cool melodies, and AJ delivers his best vocal performance since 2019. However, it is also
just another The Dangerous Summer album. All the best moments here are highly reminiscent of things they've done before.. and better. “I Feel More Like Myself When I'm Losing It” features a highly energetic, punchy chorus, but “Drowning” employed a similar technique and actually did something more engaging with its grit. “Clouds In My Eyes” tries its hands at recapturing “Reach For The Sun"s gorgeous atmosphere, but only conjures some of its pretty melodies. I could go on and find a better version of just about every track on
Gravity in the band's discography, but the primary point is that while the record sounds decent, it simply fails to set itself apart.
Moreover, once you go beyond the surface level of “sounds dece”, there are more issues to be found. Firstly,
Gravity can get a little frustrating: whenever The Dangerous Summer seem to find a nice riff or achieve a mesmerising atmosphere, they fail to capitalise on it. “Where Did All The Time Go?” comes closest to realising some kind of interesting vision, but ultimately does not stretch its captivating melodies into something actually memorable or impressive. Secondly, while AJ has clearly toned down his horniness (which is surprising given the Max Bemis feature of yesteryear), he still maintains some of his lyrical… quips. The record's title track is one of the more expansive moments here (not “Mother Nature” or “Starting Over/Slow Down” expansive, though) but ruins its momentum with a chorus of “
la la la la la / *** it / I've been on my sh*t since day one”. Lmao, okay dude.
As such,
Gravity is best enjoyed as background tunes for dinner gatherings with friends who “like all kinds of music”. Go any deeper, and you'll find yourself wondering why The Dangerous Summer don't lock themselves in a studio with a good producer and perhaps fifteen therapists for a handful of years. There's a really good album in here somewhere, but that album has already been made. By, on a technicality, the same band.
