Emotionalpunk.com
Media Review
Music Quality: 9.5
Production: 8.0
Originality: 9.5
Tracklisting
2. Bad News
3. Cal Solomon Blues
4. Wiletta
5. Talk About
6. Saintly Rows (Oh Oh)
7. Flowers For My Brain
8. Now It’s Over
9. Parallel Lines
10. If Not For My Glasses
11. Try
12. I Know
Awhile back, I stumbled across a band who recorded a debut with famed Bob Hoag (The Format, The Bled, Tickertape Parade, and Limbeck). I think it became pretty obvious as time passed that I was going to become a big fan of these guys; their mix of folk and rock combined with raw melodies was infectious and sounded more honest than most.
And so, here we are only a year and some change since the debut was released (though I had acquired it many months before then and it had been completed well before). The second I caught wind “Drunk Like Bible Times” was on its way, I perked up and anxiously awaited the opportunity to hear a song. Deep down, I hoped it would follow suit with their prior album—and when I saw them live recently, the new songs seemed to be heading down a different route. The songs while invariably catchy and reminiscent of their initial material, were a little more aggressive and noisy. I personally was an avid fan of the more intimate songs; “Paper Bag,” for example, had a sort of heartfelt drive that I longed for.
“Drunk Like Bible Times” follows suit with some of the more aggressive natured songs on the last album like “Grace” and “Skinned Knees and Gapped Teeth,” and strays from the more anthem driven songs like (ironically and, yes, confusing I know) “Grace” and “Run In The Front.” There’s a lot of quickly spoken lyrics, myriad technical guitar licks, and an (overall) more complex sound on “Drunk Like Bible Times.” Undeniably, the band has grown much since then—and their live show indicates an increasingly confident band.
That’s probably the word I’m looking for—confident. “Carl Solomon Blues” delivers a powerful sense of angst vocally, and combine with Circa-Survive-esque guitar swooning to unveil a sense of orchestrated chaos. “If Not For My Glasses,” parallel to their debut album’s “Grace,” is a steadying rock jam filled with soaring choruses and piano-led vocal lines that is as catchy as any song the band has ever written. That’s not to say the band has moved from the intimate acoustics: “Flowers For My Brain” unveils a slow waltz that is beautiful and compassionate; “Parallel Lines” clearly and completely exhibits the singer’s familiar fragility. Still, the band’s matured sound is perhaps exemplified in the closing track “I Know,” quite possibly the best one on the record—a song that brilliantly escalates into an eventual array of shouted passion.
Without question, “Drunk Like Bible Times” is in my top five favorite records of the year. I love the way Dear And The Headlights’ always seems to hit home with a sense of gentle honesty—not to mention the way the band successfully orchestrates a mix between folk, rock, and catchy pop. Whether or not this record is ‘better’ than their debut is a question best left unanswered—I simply consider it a perfect continuation of a band who are quickly mastering the art of pure introspective genius through music.