Noizecore

Dance Gavin Dance’s self-titled is possibly the most diverse post-hardcore album I have ever heard.

It begins with the explosive track, Alex English. A rocking song drifting between screamo, post-hardcore and alternate melodic-rock, ushering in a new sound for Dance Gavin Dance.

Recently, I’ve been listening to a lot of screamo and emo violence, both of which employ vastly different screams to post-hardcore and hardcore. So when I heard the initial screams of the new DGD album, I was a little taken aback as I expected a more refined version of what could be heard on Downtown Battle Mountain. The more I listen, the more I love the chaotic approach to throaty screams, gutted and strained, mixed with the high pitched, piercing clean vocals of Kurt Travis.

Gone are the generic screams so often found in post-hardcore, replaced with a sound similar to that by screamo bands such as Circle Takes The Square and Saetia.

The band went through some line up changes between releasing Downtown Battle Mountain and Dance Gavin Dance. The first of which being, lead vocalist, Jonny Craig leaving to join Emarosa in late 2007, (I did wondered why Emarosa sounded so fucking awesome on their July 2008 release, Relativity) replaced by Kurt Travis who I must say, does a brilliant job of retaining the piercing clean vocal style set by Craig, while adding his own flair and diversity to each song.

The one song that grabbed me and reminded me of the old Dance Gavin Dance was The Robot With Human Hair Pt. 3, the same musical style, the coordination of clean vocals and screams working together, taking turns throughout the verse and combining during the chorus. I just love it. What I love more comes latter on in the album when they begin to experiment with their sound, dipping their toes into the territory of melodic emo-violence; slower, droning but chaotic. Hot Water On Wool demonstrates this newfound diversity perfectly and is followed up superbly by Uneasy Hearts Weigh The Most (feat. Nic Newsham). A slower song that builds in presence with chanting voices and ambient guitars, building to a crescendo before dropping off in time to usher in the following song, Caviar which features the melodic, droning vocals of Chino Moreno.

The following three songs after Uneasy Hearts act as a bridge between the chaotic start and the hard, fast and chaotic conclusion. The album culminates in a final three songs, exemplifying all the elements experimented in through the album, from the raw power of hardcore to the melodic drone of Emo Violence and the chaos of screamo.

The composition of this album is simply brilliant. Each song runs seamlessly into the next and does not feel complete unless it is heard, directly after the preceding track.

I am in complete awe of this band, able to bring us songs like And I Told Them I Invented Times New Roman and Surprise! I’m from Cuba, Everyone has One Brain, then on the following album, break out of the previous mould set and incorporate all new elements creating songs like Uneasy Hearts Weigh The Most.

In a previous post, I made the claim that Bring Me The Horizon’s Suicide Season was the greatest album of the year, yet I find myself wondering if , for all its gloss and glamour, does Suicide Season matches up with the musical genius of Dance Gavin Dance’s self titled album.