Album You Should Own: Dance Gavin Dance “Instant Gratification”

Instant Gratification from Dance Gavin Dance is an album you NEED.

Alt/Prog-Rock/Metal/Pop! It's a thing!

The word to describe "Instant Gratification" is dichotomy. The vocals oppose each other. The guitar and bass oppose each other. The bass and drums oppose each other. The tempo and styles of the songs on the album oppose each one after another.

And it all works. It's easily one of my top 3 albums of the year, and it should be one of yours.

(There's a lot on the album that could remind you of "At The Drive In" and "The Mars Volta" without TMV's Pink Floyd-ish tendencies to get lost in noise.)

BUT you need to be able to handle really aggressive vocals, time changes and jazz-like guitar riffs that piggy back into soaring alt-rock choruses and crazy pop breakdowns. But if you can, it's so worth it. (Honestly, sometimes I can't even describe what's going on. And that's the best part.)

DGD has had a ton of members move in and our of the line-up for awhile, most notably Jonny Craig, but they've been stable with the current members for 2 albums now. Tilian Pearson took over for the clean vocals.

I say clean vocals and I mean that for 2 reasons.

#1. Tilian has a CRAZY clear, strong voice. It's not your typical alt-rock voice, it's almost in the pop arena, but it works so well.

#2. They have a screamer. Jonathan Mess does the heavy vocals, and they are HEAVY. He screams, but it's not an anger scream. It's just aggressive.

The way the 2 vocalists work together is amazing. It's as if the world was just waiting for them to get together to make an intense audio front to rattle your brains.

Will Swan was up for "Guitarist of the Year" by Alt Press this year, and he deserved it.

My Top Tracks:

1. We Own The Night (up top)
3. Something New

4. On The Run

7. The Cuddler

12. Lost