Dance Gavin Dance - Jackpot Juicer

At the time of writing this, Jackpot Juicer is the album I've had the most thoughts about recently, but I want to start by talking about Dance Gavin Dance as a whole.

On my revisit of the band, I was surprised to see just how much my thoughts on the band have changed, yet also remained the same. Their first full length, Downtown Battle Mountain used to be what I would consider one of the greatest Post-Hardcore albums there is, and now it sits just in the upper middle of the bands discography. Of course, this is a matter of my own preferences changes as well as just a re-evaluation on the band and the genre.

There's some real humor in the love for Jonny Craig's vocal ability to me. While he's undoubtable a great singer, I feel like of the bands vocalists, he's the one with the least range and least emotion, and sort of just sings the loudest. I think there's an equal level in my enjoyment of Kurt and Tillian. I think they both have a lot of range, both in vocal pitch but also in vocal delivery. Andrew I'm not sure where I stand on yet, though I think he does great on Jackpot Juicer. Their dynamics are quite interesting, in that I think Kurt has a little bit of a better time turning off certain traits of his voice, when appropriate, where as I think Tillian's voice, for lack of a better term, always has some form of "sex appeal" even if a song doesn't technically call for it. It's probably not intentional, and is just how his voice is. This isn't a complaint, mind you.

Anyways, let's get to Jackpot Juicer itself. My history with this album itself is kind of funny. On my original listen, back around the time it first came out, I really just did not care for it. Most of the songs went in one ear and out the other. I couldn't really tell you why, it just could not grab my attention. Ever since this most recent listen however, I've listened to at least a few tracks almost every day, and it's started to rival my other favorites from the band. If I had to immediately pick out any issues, it'd simply be the pointless opening track, "Untitled 2," and the length, which can make it a bit hard to get through in one sitting, but it's otherwise great.

I think "Cream of the Crop" is a fantastic true opener to the album. Tillian and Jon's(?) voice hitting you right out the gate sets a perfect tone for the album. "Synergy" is a great showing of the talent of Jon, and the feature from Don Broco's Rob Damiani lives in my head.

Though I think those songs stand out well and are worth pointing out, "For The Jeers" is probably the song that I think is the first true standout (of many, mind you), and a song I'd easily recommend to new fans of the band. If any song were to convince me of Andrew's vocal ability with the band (I'm aware of his work with Eidola), it's this song. His voicing of the line "I'm an addict for the jeers, you know" is something that instantly hooked me. This track leads right into another strong highlight of the album, "Ember." The chorus to this song, Tillian's belt of "Let me back insiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIDE" is such a powerful delivery. It's a sweet, emotionally charged delivery to emphasize the desire to repair a relationship, and it hits so hard. It's also a great showing of Tillian's ability to blend emotion with, well, sexy delivery. I dunno, it's the easiest way to explain it.

"Long Nights In Jail" is probably my favorite song on the album. Almost everything about this album is so catchy. The chorus of the song is something I find myself singing to myself extremely regularly. It's something that I can't help but just dance a little bit to. It get's me in the mood to move. Jon's lyrics are silly as always, and for whatever reason his "Bitch, I ain't Bryan" lyric kills me.

A side tangent here, but Jon's lyrics are consistently a favorite part the band for me, despite not normally being a "funny" music kind of person. It's always interesting to play the game of "Does he mean something here, or is he just yapping?" Probably one of my favorite lyricists.

"Swallowed by Eternity" is a wonderful track all the way through, but there's a single thing that I think makes the song stand out - And it's the moment that begins with Andrew at the 4:00 mark, up to the end of the song. The moment the layers of vocals kick in is my favorite single moment on the album, and sparks a strong emotional response in me through sound alone. This same style is featured on the following and final track, "Have A Great Life." This is most likely my second favorite song from the album. Everyone seems to be giving this song their all, and I think if this had been Tillian's last song with the band, or even the band's last song in general, I think it'd have been a perfect finale.

If I had to point out any songs I don't feel as positively about, it'd be "Pop Off!" and "Two Secret Weapons." The most frustrating part, is I can't even really tell you why I don't much care for these tracks. I don't think there's any bit I'd consider particularly bad, but they just fail to capture my attention or stay in my head. I guess the issue is that they're just "okay" songs in a sea of "good" to "great" songs.

To summarize, I strongly recommend this album, and consider it a favorite from the band, which makes me wonder why I didn't care on my original listen. If you're a fan of this style of post-hardcore, swancore if you want to call it that, I definitely think this album is one of the greats.