Dance Gavin Dance
Happiness
Rise Records
3.5 / 5

Happiness, the third full-length from Dance Gavin Dance showcases the band somewhat hitting their stride after the travesty of an album that was their self-titled sophomore releases.  They dropped the guy who couldn’t scream, and while the replacement seems to be a tad bit generic, it suffices and blends in a lot better with what this band seems to be trying for.

Instrumentally “Happiness” is right up there with “Downtown Battle Mountain”.  Dance Gavin Dance have always been one of those rarities.  A “scene band” that actually can piece together a pretty awesome song.  Lyrically, this record is probably just as bad as self-titled.  If there is one thing that this band needs, it’s a new lyricist.

The first half of the album is definitely the strongest.  “Tree Village” and “NASA” are both prime examples of what this band is capable of, while “Self-Trepanation” kicks off with the hardest minute of song this band has ever written.  Unfortunately, in the latter half of the album the band succumbs to played out party-rock songs.  This band is capable of alot of things, but Strawberry Swisher Parts 1 and 2 are both gut-wrechingly terrible, the former full of cheezy, god-awful lyricism and the former being the most boring song they’ve written to date.  “Carl Baker” is too long, and fumbles over itself before I eventually have to hit SKIP and I can’t believe the band had the balls to rap on the closer “Powder to the People”.  The last 30 seconds or so is full of an sweetly intense instrumental, but other than that, it’s worthless.

Overall, Happiness is definitely better than it’s predecessor, if only because of how strong the first half of the album is.   At 10 songs though, it definitely could have been a lot better.  In the midst of several member changes, this band has managed to release 3 albums in 3 years which is a point that is deserving of applause, but I can’t help but wonder what they could do if they took their time on the next one.

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