Review Summary: Admitting is the first step
I was ready to write this album off well before it came out.
Acceptance Speech was a major disappointment, I really don't like Tillian's voice, and I'm an adult who does taxes and lives with his girlfriend - like what business do I have listening to music I loved freshman year of high school when I had long hair, a wardrobe full of Hot Topic tees, a virginity, and wrote run-on sentences worse than this one? Well, to quote the sweeter than sin "Death of a Strawberry," sometimes you "just want to be a kid again."
There's always been something deeply innocent about Dance Gavin Dance, even on their self titled album when they haphazardly threw in all those "fucks" into the lyrics - an overwhelming sense of joy and love for the music came out of those records. As a renowned online music elitist, it's easy to write off Dance Gavin Dance because they make "Fast Food Post-Hardcore," but their music is delicious and fun, they're one of the best bands in said subgenre, and more than anything, sometimes it's OK to indulge in the simple pleasures. I'd be lying if I said the chorus to "Variation" wasn't catchy beyond belief, or that I can easily resist air-drumming along to "The Cuddler," or that "Shark Dad" didn't make me care about guitar again. DGD are as fun and consistent as ever on
Instant Gratification, and I feel safe in admitting I feel pretty damn good when I listen to it.
One misstep
(Acceptance Speech) caused me to grow cynical beyond my years about Dance Gavin Dance, and I wholeheartedly regret not getting all aboard the hype train for Instant Gratification like I did back in '08 when I listened to DGD's new singles on Myspace. To be fair I'll probably never enjoy a new Dance Gavin Dance record as much as I did back in the mid to late 2000s, but
Instant Gratification is solid enough, and fresh enough to knock the cynicism right out of me - and believe it or not, Tillian's vocals grew on me.
