“My bandmates and I always record really quickly, with rhythm guitar, bass and drums done live,” Dot Dash guitarist/vocalist Terry Banks says in an interview with The Big Takeover. “The vocals are overdubbed and I add an extra track of guitar, but we try to treat recording like playing a gig.”
Maybe that’s part of why “Madman In The Rain” sounds so immediate. It’s the 2022 LP from Dot Dash, who have a catalog dating back to 2011, and it is astoundingly fresh and vibrant for a 7th LP release.
“…Ringing guitars, a steady beat and echoes of long ago: That, in a nutshell, sums up the latest release from veteran D.C.-based post-punk band Dot Dash. Hooks a-plenty course through their compact tunes and snappy arrangements, which sport obvious nods to the Jam and half the new wave/power pop bands of the late ‘70s and ‘80s…”
https://oldgreycat.blog/2022/11/25/first-impressions-madman-in-the-rain-by-dot-dash/
There is a certain overarching confidence in the record. A directness conveyed by the vocals but wholly fortified by the guitars. This is a guitar band playing quick songs, quickly, and well. Banks is ready with his vocals. Hunter Bennett keeps pace with a rolicking bass. Danny Ingram is agile and up for it on drums.
Get in, get out — in under 3 minutes. If that is the mission then Dot Dash have accomplished it. Of the 12 tunes on “Madman,” 11 of them are just over 2 minutes long. “Space Junk, Satellites” is the longest track at 3:15. This moves the collection along at breakneck speed and leaves the listener clinging to hooks, twangs, melodies and phrasing as they bolt from song to song.
LP Press Release with band info
Opening track “Forever Far Out” both invites us in and warns us to hang on in the same exulting moment. “If you’re always running off from somewhere, Getting out of nowhere, chasing your breath again…”
I came up for air with the title track, placed at #5 on the LP. “Madman In The Rain” strikes a reflective chord and brings the shimmer and harmony. A nice moment before “Airwaves” pulls us back into the whirlwind.
The record sounds “carefree.” But sometimes we whistle when we are scared—just to ease the tension and induce enough bravery to take another step.
Someone should’ve warned me,
Someone could’ve informed me,
That everything turns to dust.
“Everything=Dust” lyric.
So mixed into the wall of jangle and melody we find short, sharp stones reminding us that we exist in a time that can produce pure pop pleasure. But that pleasure is as fleeting as the sounds that enable it.
It’s OK to leave feeling just a little bit giddy after listening to “Madman In The Rain.” When we were younger, some of us thought that rock and roll could change the world.
Dead and gone, you know life won’t last long
I’ve heard it’s the way of the world
All along, from darkness ‘til dawn
I’ve heard it’s the way of the world
“Dead Gone” lyric.
I guess we were right all along.
LINK: https://dotdashdc.bandcamp.com/album/madman-in-the-rain
UNCLE EARS is a music blog written by David Falk. davidrfalk@gmail.com David was born in 1962 and gravitates towards melodies, adventure, unsigned artists, fresh discoveries. He trusts his ear to know what it likes and loves sharing what he finds. He lives near Seattle, WA, USA.
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