After constant touring and bonding, Instant Gratification sees Tilian Pearson fully immersed into Dance Gavin Dance, delivering one of their strongest records to date.
Acceptance Speech saw the debut of vocalist Tilian Pearson and while the album had its moments, it mostly felt like the band were finding their feet again. Particularly attention was paid to the change from longtime producer Kris Krummet to Matt Malpass. This resulted in an average sounding mix and Tilian’s vocals having zero weight. Thankfully Krummet’s back to push the band past their previous highs.
Singles ‘On The Run‘ and ‘We Own The Night‘ set up the album perfectly. Both sounding like the familiar rabid technical stylings of Dance Gavin Dance, while also managing to sound fresh and exciting.
The band can still be heard on the album: just stronger, more confident and willing to experiment. This is also the first sign of just how well vocalists Tilian Pearson and Jon Mess work together. On Acceptance Speech it was a case of one waiting for the other to finish, whereas here, they weave in and out of each other where necessary. Whole parts of the song are now dedicated to a sole vocalist, with the instrumental making a 360 for the other. They even get their own songs. Tilian takes up the majority of ‘Awkward‘, ‘Legend‘ and ‘Death Of A Strawberry‘, where ‘Shark Dad‘ has Jon Mess near collapse with a wall of screaming over one of the bands heaviest songs.
Instant Gratification has a lot in common with Downtown Battle Mountain II. Both albums have the band incorporating a number of outside influences into the album usually at the behest of the singer. Jonny Craig brought heavy R&B influences to Downtown Battle Mountain II and Tilian brings indie rock in abundance. The strength of the album is how the band manages blend the various sounds while still keeping the record cohesive. ‘Death Of A Strawberry’ brings the ‘Strawberry Swisher‘ series to a close, while thematically sounding similar, the song is arguably the most different sounding in the series. All over the record the band is pushing themselves out of their comfort zone, without sacrificing the house sound.
Closer ‘Lost‘ has a sense of urgency and drama similar to latter half of their first album. The songwriting is also the best the band achieved to date. Discussing religious themes minus the eye rolling ‘right/wrong’ debate and instead speaking from an emotional perspective. This is a side unseen from the band in a longtime.
Instant Gratification is the album Dance Gavin Dance always had in them, but the drama surrounding them prevented them from growing over the course of their albums. Up to this point every album has been a gear change or a complete 180. This album has the all the elements fans have grown to love but also represents the bands next logical step, while still managing to maintain an element of unpredictability. Dance Gavin Dance are one of the genres most exciting bands and Instant Gratification is proof.
