by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Much like the actual New Year's Day, Double Grave (formerly known as Ego Death)'s new single "New Years Day" is a slow burner. Things can be slow to start after a long New Year's Eve night, but there's an unpredictability that lies ahead. Following a string of EPs, the Minneapolis band are getting ready to release their upcoming full length debut, New Year's Daydream, this Spring with Sad Cactus Records and they've embraced that unpredictability.
"New Years Day" is the record's first single, opening at a crawling pace (like many of us on New Year's Day) with a gloomy slowcore intro provided by guitarist/vocalist Jeremy Warden. Things don't stay sleepy for too long though as the band burst in around the one minute mark with a jangly art-pop riff and a change in perspective as Warden sings "hey look, I'm doing okay". From there "New Years Day" spirals out as they layer on fuzzy riffs, thick grooving bass lines, and a tight rhythm, eventually pulling itself into a brilliantly distorted collapse of skronky chaos. The tempo contracts as the noise builds, swallowing the song whole as the guitars and Seth Tracy's clamoring drums wrestle to keep everything afloat. It's the perfect blend of eccentric pop hooks and tonal destruction, sounding something like a band being sucked through a black hole mid performance. Welcome to the new year.
Double Grave's New Year's Daydream will be out this Spring on Sad Cactus Records.