by Dusty Hayes (@dustyshayes)
There’s a special feeling you get when you buy tickets to a show just for the headliner, only for the opener to dominate the night. It’s the same one you may feel when you find some extra fries at the bottom of your takeout bag, an extra beer in the twelve-pack you thought was empty, or a poster still tucked in the sleeve of a first press record you just picked up. Absolute jubilation because you got your money's worth and then some. That was the feeling I had when I first saw Dazy open for Snail Mail back in 2023.
Dazy is an alt-rock outfit based out of Richmond, Virginia. It’s the creation of one James Goodson, an avid rocker known also from the punk band Teen Death. Dazy is a more mellow alternative look at Goodson’s musical stylings. Not quite something you would call punk, although not too terribly far off, the project shows a side of his music that you won’t find elsewhere. This has never been more clearly exhibited than on Dazy’s latest studio album, Bad Penny.
Goodson has demonstrated an unmatched mastery of that tried-and-true Dazy sound with this record. If you want to put an exact label on Bad Penny, it leans most towards 2000s revival-era garage rock, with a light and uplifting sound that is string-instrument-forward as the rhythm section takes a backseat. That’s not to say the drums and bass of Bad Penny are there only to keep time; much greater is this rhythm section than a glorified metronome, but it is impossible to deny that they have been cast ever so slightly to the side in favor of composing infectious hooks and riffs. This arrangement is obvious from the moment you hit play.
The album opens with “Straight 2 You,” a perfect showcase of what this record has in store. The song begins with a groovy beat and a compressed sample, then it fires right into the meat of the matter. Tantalizing guitars, funky bass lines, tinkling keys, and that same beat thumping along as you slip further into Dazy’s grasp. It doesn’t matter which tune you pick; it will be a knockout. Print out the track list, paste it up on your wall, and throw a dart at it; it is a guarantee that you hit a masterpiece. Take “Half Truth” for example, nestled near the end of the LP, this song is yet another reinvention of Bad Penny, taking you in a new, interesting direction while keeping in line with the rest of the record. It’s faster than a good chunk of the songs and it’s got this filtered guitar ripping around itself in a defining circular riff. The beat is quick and hi-hat heavy, and the lyrics are a thrashing storm composed to blow down some lying scumbag that did Mr. Goodson dirty. Dazy has got their sound down to an exact recipe; each track is a show of altering one ingredient, just to see what wild new sounds he can generate.
There is no shortage of garage-rock bands out there taking a stab at the alternative sound; it’s simply one of the most popular sub-genres rock has to offer. There is, however, no one doing it quite like Dazy. Goodson has a lock on the short yet explosive nature of the genre. He has shown that he sees a way forward for the genre that does not include writing songs which are mere retreads of what have become the oldies of garage-rock. The future is now, and the future is Bad Penny.