Dance Gavin Dance wanted to waste no time making sure they delivered another successful record that follows 2016’s Mothership. The Sacramento natives that formed thirteen years ago have seen lineup changes in their short career but still have managed to mature while thriving through their wild technical, infectious hooks. Artificial Intelligence (Rise) comes as the energetic and eclectic eighth full-length that fans didn’t know was missing.
Right of the bat, ‘Son Of Robot’ comes in with strong screams from Jon Mess accompanied with clean vocals by Tilian Pearson. Their vocals flow nicely as it compliments the guitars reminiscent of a Nintendo game. The first single ‘Midnight Crusade’ strongest suit is the bass line by Tim Feerick—that creates a catchy, strong background. The band played it safe releasing this as their first single but it stumbles as the “rapping” rhythm Mess delivers. By the third track, ‘Suspended In This Disaster’, Pearson expresses himself well vocally. Overall, the song is a great mix of groove and heavy and sounds to be influenced by 2011’s Downtown Battle Mountain 2.
Strawberry Girls’ and former DGD guitarist, Zachary Garren makes an appearance on ‘Care’. Teaming up with Will Swan, it’s surprisingly one of the strongest guitar sections in the album and is even accompanied by bongos—experimenting beyond their traditional rhythmic structure. ‘Count Bassy’ is catchy with the jazz-infused percussion and the noticeable kazoo. ‘Flash’ doesn’t do much for the record but things becomes unruly once again with ‘The Rattler’; the rhythm is insane and the guitar work transitions very nicely note to note.
Kurt Travis makes an appearance back again in the DGD gang in ‘Shelf Life’, and the harmonies in this song will make fans happy as it triggers emotions found in 2009’s Happiness. It’s nice to hear this band that has made many transitions be able to deliver on the structure that fans fell in love with.
As previously mentioned, Feerick is on point with his delivery in this album – his transitions in ‘Slouch’ really drive in the tone that flatters the guitar riffs so adequately. ‘Hair Song’ is a fun jam where Mess experiments his screams with melody changes and strong drumline by Matt Mingus is showcased here, as it is in ‘Gospel Burnout’, the snare and bass drum are intriguing as is the flute that sets the unique tone and ‘Bloodsucker’ comes in pretty poignantly as Pearson repeats the chorus thrice. The mood changes once again with the final song, ‘Evaporate’. It is refreshingly emotional and creates an ambiance that the rest of the album didn’t prepare you for—in a totally good way—one of the top songs in the entire record.
So there it is. Once again, Dance Gavin Dance delivered a record that lived up to its predecessor. The production is solid as it differentiates throughout the album but if DGD were selecting elements from prior releases to create a new direction, they created their best record to date.
9.0/10
CYNTHIA JO