Review - Dance Gavin Dance – Downtown Battle Mountain II

DGD come across as somewhat of a joke with this latest release, and it really sounds like a bunch of rubbish from the start, to the very end.

I can’t quite get by head round why everyone rates this bunch so highly, and why the return of Jonny Craig to the fold has been so heralded by pretty much everyone in the scene. That mans troubles are well documented (drug abuse, trying to con fans with bogus sales of laptops, etc) and to be fair, why everyone loves this record is just beyond me.

I am genuinely stumped.

It is a piss poor version of the formulaic screamo sound, and the jangly guitars, and horrendous (and consistent) time changes are just frustrating and annoying. There is not really anything which sticks out about this, other than the ill-advised title of “Need Money” in the wake of the front mans internet scam. Incessant wailing, dodgy rapping, frenetic and schizophrenic musical accompaniment to vocals sounding the same through and through, make this one to avoid.

Genuinely one of the worst albums I have listened to in ages, and one that should get binned straight away. It will do well, and the die hard fanbase will love it, but it just isn’t for me. I need much more from an album than this can offer, and I cannot put into words just how dreadful this really is.

. . . And that is all I can come up with to write about – it is just that poor.

Appalling.

0/10