Dance Gavin Dance - Artificial Selection (June 8, 2018) Album • Page 4

Hot take but Kurt does absolutely nothing for me. Like, I think he sounds bad a vast majority of the time.

 

Did you mean to say Jonny?

 

Wow yeah I've never heard that before. I mostly always hear people say Kurt was their best vocalist haha.

 

Nah definitely kurt

 

I mean, I understand that opinion since his style very much fits what they go for. I just find his melodies awkward and voice grating.

 

Yeah no I totally get it's a preference thing, I'm just saying I'm surprised because I've never heard it before haha not trying to attack your opinion.

 

No worries! Didn’t take it as an attack. I mean, there are still some Kurt songs I really like and I dug the eternity forever EP, though mostly for the guitar work, but my preference lies with the more polished sounds of Jonny and tilian.

 

It’s funny because when I first started on this band I adored Jonny’s voice... but now he’s my least favorite DGD singer. He just has very little versatility stylistically, and obviously his personal shittiness makes me want to go back to his stuff even less.

 

Also... SINGLE WHEN??

GOD DAMN I’m getting impatient hahaha

 

Kurt is clearly the least interesting of the vocalists. In terms of vocal capabilities he's the least impressive, but his strength is strong character, emotion and lyricism (probably the only DGD singer to consistantly write emotionally compelling songs)

Jonny has the emotion and Tilian has the charisma, but Kurt has both.

However his albums are also the least musically potent in my opinion, but that's not his fault of course.

 

Tilian's "rougher Anthony Green" vocal style really does it for me so I've been feeling him since the first note of Jesus H. Macy. His versions of Kurt's songs on Tree City Sessions are also really good.

 

I'm not gonna say much, but just to build some hype, I'll say that I have heard some things about the potential direction of the album that make me REALLY intrigued if they turn out true. Some of you guys may know if you've talked to me that I do music journalism/reviews, and I also co-host a podcast based out of Southern California that so far has largely focused on progressive/post-hardcore bands (*cheap plug if you do want to check us out haha*: PlggdN Podcast – Covering everything you want to hear).

Anyway the reason I'm bringing this up is that my co-host and I have established some friendships and connections within the "Swancore" scene, and have heard some stuff over the last few weeks and proceeding months. Like I said I really don't think it's my place to divulge too many details, and I'm not even sure which things are 100% accurate at this point... But we've heard a couple recurring themes. The main one we've heard repeatedly is "different" within the context of DGD's discography, maybe even "risky". Second thing is that the band is apparently really trying to prevent any sort of leak before the official rollout begins, so much so that even some of the collaborators on the album outside of the band, like featured musicians, didn't have the final masters as recently as a week or two ago. It seems like they're REALLY trying to roll this out on their own terms and prevent anyone from spilling the beans on what it's gonna sound like.

I can't imagine they'll wait longer than another full week to drop a single, so if it isn't this Friday I would expect next Friday at the LATEST if they follow their usual release pattern, but in any case I'm really curious and excited for this one.

 

That is certainly intriguing. Hmmmmm.

Also good on them for asserting control of their own rollout and trying to prevent leaks. That said, though, one of the best ways to make sure the album doesn't leak is probably to not have a three-month rollout lol

 

Yeah definitely. I think a big part of it is that they don't want the direction of the sound leaking out before the lead single drops, they want to begin the hype cycle for the album with a bang. So I'm pretty sure once the rollout really gets going (I'm assuming like I said either this Friday or next), it'll be their usual hype machine.

 

It's not even funny how much better happiness and self titled are from the rest of their albums

 

Yeah, apparently Sergio or someone didn't even know the name of the song he was featured on when the album was announced

 

Neither did Zach Garren haha, they were all trying to figure it out on Twitter

 

I'm honestly wondering how "different" DGD can be at this point, considering the entire point of their sound is to be entirely out of left field.

I feel like saying 'poppier' or 'heavier' is a cop-out and not really an adequate evaluation in the terms of DGD.

I feel like they may have took the production and writing style in a different direction. Maybe a concept album. Maybe letting Tilian and Jon write some songs.

 

Oh yeah 100% agreed. Like I said I still don't really know what it's going to sound like, but I think for this band it would have to be a fairly significant shift to really be able to be described as "different".

 

Tilian and Jon are already a part of the writing process. If I’m not mistaken, every member just writes their own part, so no one really has a monopoly on song writing or structure.

I’ve been feeling like it was time for DGD to try something new. I stand by my recommendation that they drop the screaming. Nothing against Jon, he can like, learn harpsichord for DGD for all I care. I don’t really see that happening though, I feel like this era will take them into a more pop direction and I don’t think it’s a cop out to say that, they’ve already started going in that direction. Basically I foresee more Betrayed by the Game and less Flossie Dickey Bounce. That’s my guess. I’m usually surprised by this band though.

 

I feel like the screaming is fun, and it really highlights Tilian's parts. On the Run is the perfect example of this.

 

largely agree with the above. the words risk/mature/different/etc almost invariably mean less screaming. ill love it regardless but i will sorely miss screaming if thats the route they go.

 

To kind of expand on screaming thing, I genuinely think their music is good enough to cross over genres but the screaming puts people off and it’s not like they’re going to gain more fans in the hardcore scene. I only say this because a couple years ago Jon said he wouldn’t do any more albums (I think this was right before IG came out) if the band didn’t become more profitable and that’s not going to happen without gaining new fans. Plus, I think for a lot of people, myself included, the screaming dates their sound.

 

yea i mean i agree with that too. i think that interview was right before mothership came out, and fortunately it did well. i get why bands stop and ill never fault em for it, but as someone who likes it a lot and seeks it out, its naturally disappointing. of course, this is all speculation anyway, but the screaming debate comes up enough (like in the underoath thread) that i wanted to say that. its always easy to say "you can always listen to the old stuff" but thats not very satisfying lol. seems like if you want screaming you're increasingly forced to choose between hardcore and more extreme metal.

 

I gotta agree with you here, clearly better albums