Dance Gavin Dance is a band that just consistently gets better and better each release at it again with their ninth album titled Afterburner; they continue to impress. Blending all sorts of different sounds from rock to pop to funk to Latin, these guys aren’t ones force themselves into one genre.
The album opens strong with the track “Prisoner.” This track is a fun one to listen to with its jazzy, upbeat vibe. Tilian Pearson’s raspy cleans pair well with Jon Mess’ screams. “Lyrics Lie” follows next with a beat that’s easy to move to and a chorus that is bound to get stuck in your head instantly. “Sorry didn’t mean to flex, just sit back down and learn from the best, I was born with a silver spoon, feeding me my pure fortitude.” This song is all about a lot of the social media influencers and entrepreneurs and the reality of it that everything is not what it seems on social media. Track three on the album “Calentamiento Global” is another fun one. The band has always been experimental with their sound and not stuck into one lane, but this is more of a curveball from the group. On this Latin-inspired track, we see Pearson speak an entirely different language, and the group so flawlessly blends the Latin elements with heavy-hitting rock.
Further down in the tracklist, we come to my personal favorite on the album “Strawberry’s Wake.” This track continues the theme of strawberry songs, following Instant Gratification’s “Death of a Strawberry,” and the “Strawberry Swisher” tracks seen on Happiness and Acceptance Speech. The song starts off slow with Pearson’s soft vocals but quickly punches in hard with Mess screaming “HEY!.” This track is all about self-actualization and learning to accept and move on. “I want you to matter to you, forget those backstabbers,” with “Strawberry Wake,” the group reminds us to love ourselves and to stop caring about what others think.
In my opinion, Dance Gavin Dance has yet to put out a bad album. Every album, they always find a way to expand their range and blend something new to create a unique sound and they have done it again with Afterburner. Afterburner is out now via Rise Records and available on all streaming platforms.
Tracklist
1. Prisoner
2. Lyrics lie
3. Calentamiento Global
4. Three Wishes
5. One In a Million
6. Parody Catharsis
7. Strawberry’s Wake
8. Born to Fail
9. Parallels
10. Night Sway
11. Say Hi
12. Nothing Shameful
13. Into the Sunset
