Firmly putting an oddly-overlooked-by-the-authorities / not-wacky-at-all-marketing-trick laptop fiasco behind a particular vocalist just in time for release, DANCE GAVIN DANCE‘s ‘Downtown Battle Mountain II’ is a jangly, over-ambitious effort in which the band are more often than not riding so close to the line between mathy and messy that they could probably snort it with a $500 note.*
Still, though it undeniably feels like a sellotaped together bundle of melody and rhythm, the band aren’t shy of some great moments – opener ‘Spooks’ and the stylistic kaleidoscope of ‘Heat Seeking Ghost Of Sea’ are chaotic without being incoherent and the vocal trade offs between Jonny Craig and Jon Mess have the very occasional and very impressive click.
Largely, it’s a disappointment because it feels like they haven’t tried very hard to develop the songs here. There’s no lack of technical ability with anyone in the band, but it really does feel like a collection of half-formed ideas that would have been great given a little time.
You know that inevitable moment at parents’ evening when your maths teacher says “you’d be so much better if you just applied yourself and worked on your attention span”? Well yeah, that guy was a dick and he clearly perved on some of the girls all of the time so I don’t really care what he thinks anyway because he’s probably still working there and I’m sat here reviewing albums for fun and what does he know about maths anyway? Oh yeah… Dance Gavin Dance, we’re not angry, we’re disappointed.
*theoretically
TOM AYLOTT