Review Summary: Dance Gavin Dance by numbers
Dance Gavin Dance is a band which needs no introduction. Arguably the kings of post-hardcore, their style is well known to anyone who has listened to more than 5 of their songs. They are now on their 9th album with their own particular brand of post-hardcore well established and just as well rounded. But does the style still hold up after all this time?
Mostly yes. All of the elements that we know and love them for are still there. This is a band who have found the winning formula; intricate guitar lines, stellar drumming, solid bass, and switching between soaring vocals and harsh screams, with often the former having meaning and the latter being nonsense, and finally throwing in some sugary sweet production. It all adds up to a fun time, but something is missing; the execution on this album lacks purpose and feeling. The singles prior to this were promising (after a few listens, because Dance Gavin Dance’s music can often only fully be appreciated after it has been on repeat for 20 minutes) and they still had something behind them but there seems to be a hollowness behind most of the tracks on Afterburner, despite everything being in its place and working well. Their previous efforts (especially Mothership and even Artificial Selection) were solidly produced and even though some tracks were lacking in the creativity department, you could at least tell that they were giving everything they’ve got and meant what they were putting out. This just doesn’t seem to be the case as much here.
Even the lyrics (at least on Jon’s part) have slipped slightly. As mentioned before, Jon Mess does often scream nonsense, however even his lyrics in previous albums had more meaning than “Multiple stab wounds, yeah” or “My mouth is open wider than the time I had sex” or even “Feeling angry, go go night night / Me go feed the pigeons”. There just seems to be a slight lack of effort on his part. Tilian’s lyrics have meaning at least. But it’s not just Jon. Every member seems to be on autopilot, as if this is just something that they do as opposed to something that they want to do. This even shows in their most recent music videos, where they’re just doing their thing without much effort being put into it.
Having said that, there are some highlights and some effort is made to be slightly different and expand their sound. Tilian has brought back some of the screaming from his Tides Of Man days to the songs Lyrics Lie and Prisoner, which are a nice contrast to Jon. Calentamiento Global is almost entirely in Spanish, which gives some variety. Some effects are added to the vocals in this song, as well as in Parallels. There are also some nice features on the last two tracks, from Andrew Wells and Johnny Franck respectively, where Andrew's vocals complements Tillian's very well and Johnny's vocals provide a nice contrast a la Uneasy Hearts Weigh The Most from their self-titled.
There are also times when their brilliance shines through, albeit fewer and further between than I’d like and than they are capable of. Strawberry’s Wake, for example, is one of their standout tracks where Tilian’s vocals are just as great as ever, and where DGD most approach what they are capable of (even if the best part of the song is the final 30 seconds). Parody Catharsis is also strong, perhaps because they are putting energy into it which lacks in the other songs, but also because it contains light rapping from Will Swan. There is even a full rap verse in Into The Sunset from Will, who hasn’t appeared in this capacity since Instant Gratification. Night Sway has one of the best DGD riffs in recent memory and has a lot of energy. I would also say that overall, the second half of the album is better than the first for these reasons, with some sparse moments of brilliance in the first few tracks; the last 45 seconds of Prisoner and the last minute of Lyrics Lie come to mind, where the band all gel together nicely with Tilian and Jon flexing their still impressive vocals over the top.
When it comes down to it though, this is Dance Gavin Dance by numbers. Whereas in previous efforts, they were really going for it and it showed, here they seem to be skating by on pure talent as opposed to really pushing their sound for all that it can be. Maybe they feel as if they have run out of steam or places to go with it. Maybe they just lack inspiration after doing this for 13 years. Whatever the reason, this is still the same old Dance Gavin Dance and it is still a good album, but perhaps they all need a break to go and do their own thing for a while. Maybe then will they re-discover why they are doing this instead of just what, where, when and how, and we will finally get another record at the heights that we all know they are capable of reaching.
