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Daggermouth - Stallone

Rating

RIYL

Set Your Goals
The Movielife
Taking Back Sunday
No Trigger
New Found Glory

Label

State Of Mind Recordings

Tracklist

1. Steveston Mike Can Mosh To This Anyday!
2. I Dance To Trance In Garbage Bag Pants
3. Hit 'Em High, Hit 'Em Low, Don Flamingo
4. Does Anyone Know What SNFU Stands For?
5. Vegas Chaffe, Brutha I Got it Too
6. Shildo's Quest: Legacy Of The Dung
7. Pump Lube And Gary The Bear
8. The Verbal Uzi. Moo You Fucking Bitches
9. Lassie's Last Dance
10. A Merkin In The Streets
11. The Dude Just Wants His Rug Back
12. Texas John's Sweet Herbal Remedy
13. Wrestlemania 5: Hulk Hogan Vs. Macho Man...Winner Gets...
14. This Is Where The Chocolate Cheesecake Would Be If We Had Any Whammy
15. Sing It Again Rookie Biatch

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Recent Ratings
Rick Gebhardt

With everything this hectic world can throw at us, all of us at some point need to escape the hustle and bustle of bills, meetings, appointments, and due dates; however, there are almost as many hobbies to get engrossed in as there are credit card companies that have “pre-approved” you before you even knew they existed. So why is it that we all here at Decoy (readers and staffers, alike) have chosen music?! Sure, some of us are in it for the technical side of things, some here for the art of it all, some here simply for the culture of it all; however, I’d be willing to bet that one thing we all have in common is that each of us has at some point in our lives experienced the liberation that comes with rolling down the windows in your car and simply losing yourself in the CD spinning in your car audio system. That very moment is the one that Rain City, Canada’s Daggermouth seeks to make a staple in your everyday routine.

So let’s go ahead and get the obvious out of the way: Daggermouth sounds a lot like Set Your Goals. And a lot like Taking Back Sunday. And a lot like The Movielife. And a lot like Saves the Day. And a lot like Lifetime. With that being said, it’s easy to tell that Daggermouth has taken the same “fun first, creativity second” approach as those likeminded artists, but as I’ve stated before in previous reviews… there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, in moderation. Sure, without those bands that push creative boundaries, music as a whole would become stagnant; however, if it weren’t for bands like Daggermouth, then we’d probably forget that music is meant to be entertaining, fun, and more or less, an escape.

With the elements of excitement and youthfulness on their side, the fellows in Daggermouth kick off Stallone with the intro, “Steveston Mike Can Mosh to This Anyday!,” which is a comedic take on the classic “tough-guy hardcore” intro mixed with your local junior high’s chant-cheers, that sets the tone for the entire album. Immediately after, drummer J.J. Heath tears into the atypical pop-punk/melodic-hardcore chops that we all know and love as vocalist Nick Leadlay flamboyantly belts out across them with a voice much akin to Vinnie Caruana in his prime with The Movielife, or more recently Matt Wilson of Set Your Goals. As Stallone progresses, Leadlay continuously shows off his impressive vocal ability as he flawlessly shifts back and forth between the staple mild shouts of melodic hardcore, histrionic clean emo-vox, and Adam Lazarra-esque angsty wails (see track five). Lyrically, Daggermouth isn’t breaking new ground, but they do a very nice job of touching on everything from loss, heartbreak, soul-searching, and growing up and living life, which are the topics we all listen to this music for anyways.

On a musical level, Daggermouth offers up high-speed, by-the-book melodic hardcore mixed with extremely catchy pop-punk guitar lines that dare you not to perk up, tap your foot, and get excited. Without deterrence, each member careens through every song on Stallone with utmost precision and endless excitement. Whether it is in the form of upbeat bass lines (“Lassie’s Last Dance” and “Pump Lube and Gary the Bear”), jerky guitar jaunts (“The Dude Just Wants His Rug Back”), or driving punk blasts next to well-timed mini-breakdowns (“I Dance to Trance in Garbage Bag Pants” and “Sing it Again Rookie Biatch!”), each individual in Daggermouth is hitting on all cylinders at all times on Stallone.

All in all, if you’re looking for a well-done, windows-down, sing-a-long inducing, melodic hardcore/pop-punk hybrid, then by all means run out to your local indie record store and order yourself a copy of Daggermouth’s latest offering. For those of you that realize musical success doesn’t always have to be measured by dollar signs, critical praises, or other bullshit, but rather by the number of kids going absolutely ape at shows, get stoked – you just found your new favorite band.

--Jayme Barkdoll

Author

Jayme Barkdoll

Last updated: 09/29/2009 08:54PM

Comments

Amazingthemike

09/19/2006

07:52AM

Location
Cleveland, OH

You pretty much said it all - good CD.

Scene Point Blank / Escapist Records

introspect

09/19/2006

01:25PM

Age: 28

Solid CD from a band I'm real glad to see get reviewed here. I know a couple of the guys and have been to their shows a few times, it's a killer time, just turn off your brain and enjoy.

Kill him, kill him good.