Tag: Pretty Good

YEAR END! – Top Twenty EPs / Splits Of 2013

epgrid

  • Nobody, Ever – “This Wall Is Dedicated To Liam And His Mates”
  • All Dogs – “All Dogs”
  • The Island Of Misfit Toys – “Furiouser & Furiouser”
  • Adobe Homes / Innards – “Split”
  • These Branches – “Beliefs”
  • Best Practices – Sore Subjects
  • Late Night Beers – “Waking”
  • Lemuria – “Brilliant Dancer”
  • Dads – “Pretty Good”
  • Football, etc / Plaids – “Split”
  • Perfect Future – “Irrational, Malleable, Inevitable”
  • Sunday Guts – “Leave It Go”
  • Graves. – “We Could Stand Here, SIlent And Still”
  • Tyler Daniel Bean – “Everything You Do Scares Me”
  • Young Turks – “Where I Rise”
  • Self Defense Family – “You Are Beneath Her”
  • Abi Reimold / Infinity Crush – “Wish It Stopped (split)”
  • Iron Chic – “Spooky Action”
  • Dikembe / Pet Symmetry – “Split”
  • Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) / Malegoat – “Split”

REVIEW: Dads – "Pretty Good"

I worry about records that are described as “totally different from their old stuff.” Like, I get that bands change over time. I just almost always like the old stuff, goddamnit. It was with this hesitation that I went into listening to this new Dads EP. Every review I’ve seen focuses on how different this is. But, to be honest, the hype was mostly just hype.

Pretty Good generally plays as a logical follow up to American Radass (this is important). Both “Boat Rich” and “Can I be Yr Deadbeat Boyfriend” sound like they could have been off the previous LP. The latter sharing a very similar sound to “Groin Twerk.” This isn’t a bad thing at all. It was nice to have some familiarity. Noting that there are some very similar things on this record doesn’t mean they didn’t try to change some things up. Where they did something different really fucking worked.

“My Crass Patch” opens the album with a more post-hardcore sound. “No, We’re Not Actually” closes it in a similar way. It is jarring at first, but very welcome. The latter starts very calm, and builds about midway through. It brings the record around full circle. It’s great to see how they worked that stuff in there. It sounds great, especially for a two-piece. They really knocked it out of the park.

This record has a hell of a lot to like. I don’t want to come across as being down on this. Pretty Good is a great addition to any collection. It adeptly walks the line between emo and more traditional post-hardcore. Get into it.

Dads
BandCamp
6131 Records