Dead Dog Summer – A Place Of Someday (Geenger Records)

Geenger Records recently released A Place Of Someday, a debut full-length release by Dead Dog Summer. It has been roughly a year, or maybe even more since I spoke with these guys via email. They told me about their ideas back then, and I was eager to hear more about their activities and music. As is usually the case, everything takes time, but Dead Dog Summer finished their material, recorded a couple of videos, and started promoting it. Luckily, I had a chance to premiere both videos and share track-by-track feature without even remotely knowing what to expect from the remainder of their album. It would be an understatement that I was just blown away by their sound. The band, their ideas, musicianship, and release like A Place Of Someday pop up on the scene once in a while, but Dead Dog Summer resonate with a unique ambiance that will unquestionably appeal to those older fans of the post-hardcore.

Dead Dog Summer consists of musicians who previously played in bands such as Senata Fox, The Farewell Reason, Nikad, Youth Against, Implicite, etc. Some of these acts are my favorite regional bands (Geenger Records HQ knows what I am talking about), so like many others, I awaited A Place Of Someday with anticipation, and it was worth the wait. This album carries everything you dearly love about post-hardcore music, separated into ten exceptional compositions. Perhaps this material will sound like a regular post-hardcore album to some inexperienced ears. However, if you were active during the late 90s and early 00s hardcore scene, you’ll appreciate this album to the point that you won’t let it go for a while. Dead Dog Summer nurture such a distinctive sound based upon several crucial elements. You’ll notice early nineties post-hardcore, late nineties screamo, and emo, but also a healthy dosage of revolution summer thrown into it. There are moments when DC hardcore and Midwest emo are dueling for dominance while that thick layer of early 00s post-hardcore lurks around.

A Place Of Someday is an immensely melodic record, and melody is Dead Dog Summer’s heaviest weapon in the sonic arsenal. These guys pretty much easily handle each subgenre of hardcore I mentioned above, but all those sonic maneuvers come with a dosage of experimentation implemented deeply down into the core of these songs. These musicians paid attention to the tiniest details that, in one way or another, almost entirely defined the direction of particular tracks. The themes, melodies, harmonies, arpeggiated chord progressions, and riffs are enormously catchy. They did a wise move and volumed up the bass, so besides various dualities between guitars, you’ll also hear clean basslines punching from beneath. Like the remainder of the group, the drummer bursts with sheer experience shown through a comprehensive collection of rhythmic sequences, continuous splashing over cymbals, various accentuations, and hectic drum fills. I adore how Dead Dog Summer thought about vocal parts, so you’ll have the chance to enjoy the classic hardcore shouts, screams, and clean-singing lines, where the frontman and bass player usually switch the vocal roles. A Place Of Someday has many other qualities, and it would be a shame not to discover it yourself. Head to your favorite streaming platform and blast this album as loud as possible.