This band is the solo acoustic project by Dallas Green (he was also the singer/guitarist of Alexisonfire). His original band developed a pretty good following, and my guess is that they followed him over. He toured for some of his original solo work and wound up selling out a string of UK dates, so yeah, I think it's safe to say he had some fans follow over.
So the origin of the name is pretty inventive: it's all from his own name. "Dallas" = 'City' and "Green" = 'Colour." Cool right? I mean, I probably would have never thought of that. Some sites credit three other members of the band, some list them as backing musicians just for this album. Dallas Green is the only solid consistency I can find so far.
"We Found Each Other In The Dark" wakes us up right away as it comes in loudly with a surrounding presence. The title alone is a lovely sentiment if you think about it in a certain light. Excuse me ahead of time folks - it's been a long day, and I'm probably going to get a little too sentimental. Music, right, right. So it's a slow, sway-y kind of number, definitely the stuff 8th grade dance songs were made of. It's romantic, but could also be just as sweet friend-to-friend. Let me ask y'all something - ever had someone who came along at just the right time, every time? ... Ever felt like you're letting them down? Shit, now I'm tearing up. Stupid wonderfully sweet song.
The next one picks things up, showing that the pacing can be a little more lively. "Natural Disasters" has an echo to it, which I noticed before, but something about that sound being in a faster-moving song is a little throwing off. Let's face it - extreme reverb on a guitar really sends a sound back to the 90's - not that I'm complaining. I <3 the 90's fo sho. Just giving y'all a reference point is all. I seriously sat through this one comfortably, not under- or overwhelmed at all, just comfortable.
"Grand Optimist" is sort of interesting. On one hand we have a simple guitar strumming alone, keeping the beat moving. On the other, we have harmonies in the vocals that create a light echo that becomes haunting as the intensity picks up. Lyrically, the song talks of his father and the traits the man possesses that he obviously does not. "But this is not a cry for pity of for sympathy" leads into the intense realization chorus of the fact he takes after his mother instead. It may not be as deep as I'm making it out to be, but it strikes me as that way. Woo for looking into things just a little too much. And here's the performance I missed at Bonnaroo:
"Fragile Bird" picks it up ever so slightly, with more beat in every instrument. Love how this hits, even if it's so simple, just because it's a little different. There's more grit than pop to it, in just about every aspect, as it move into things more and more. The lyrics aren't really hitting in any special way, but it's a decent mix for around mid-album.
That one went by pretty quick for a 4+ minute song. "Northern Wind" delivers, again, a slower strummed number. I'd like to note, for detail's sake, I'm listening with one earbud in, but I checked - I'm not missing anything without the other side mixed in. The song's steady and easy to hear. And let me also note that when the guy walks in and talks to you, this is an incredibly appropriate sound to play sweetly into your ear as he smiles at you. Dear God, please don't read this one - that was a little too specific. Anyway... listen to the song.
Maybe I spoke too soon and the album actually decided to take a darker twist, because "Weightless" has the same type of tone instrumentally. More minor chords are hit, and the sound is organized but disjointed as needed. The sound is so grinding on your mind as your listening - this is one where the lights are most certainly dimmed, setting a much more intense mood for the room as a whole. It's only the smokey guitar solo that does something different for it, aka, spotlight time. Did I mention I used to do lighting design a few years back?
"Sorrowing Man" can't be anything entirely happy, can it? Unless it's him coming out of sorrow. Of course, this is me writing before the song even comes on - thank you Spotify commercials. It does finally come on though, and the dragging beat is not promising me anything remotely uplifting here at all. The song gives much of what's expected, and while I'm not deeming that a bad thing, it's just something lost on my ears right now. As a live number, I would bet it's moving and amazing. Some things just don't translate as well recorded.
I would also bet that the opening chord struck for "Silver and Gold" is the same exact one as the opening chord for "Who Needs the World?" by Nick Carter. That is possibly the oddest observation I have ever made on this blog. I have no apologies for that. I half expected this to be the old song about friendship. Instead, it's another slow strum-y song with little to grab me at this point. There's a bit of an odd sound that comes through about halfway through, giving a echo-y, scary sound. I wrote a lot of -y words in this entry. Here's the song as performed at Guitar Center.
Added to My Playlist:
- "We Found Each Other In The Dark"
- "Little Hell"
- "Northern Wind"
- "Hope For New"
I'm slightly blown away by the amount of new, amazing music I've gotten to hear recently. A lot of that has come out of artists on the 2012 Bonnaroo line-up (and I'm writing this in July (ignore the date) and thus kicking myself for not sucking up the money and going) and this festival has once again blown me away. These kind of musicians just don't exist in the regular public spotlight, and the ones that do have a very hard time staying there. I hope to hear more and more from musicians like Dallas Green because, even through the tears, they remind me how beautiful music really makes life.