Happiness (Dance Gavin Dance album)
Happiness is the third full-length album from post-hardcore band Dance Gavin Dance. It was released by Rise Records on June 9, 2009. The band went into the studio with Kris Crummett to record the album on February 14, 2009. On April 10, they uploaded new artwork and a recording of the new song "Tree Village" onto their MySpace profile. On May 28, "Don't Tell Dave" was also added to their MySpace page with "NASA" being posted soon after on May 31.
This album marks a significant change for the band's sound, as it deviates from their traditional post-hardcore sound and instead embraces more experimental elements, many of which are expanded upon in following albums.
This is their first (and only, to date) album without original member Jon Mess, and therefore the first and so far only album with vocalist and guitarist Kurt Travis and Will Swan respectively handling screaming duties. It is also their only album with former bassist Jason Ellis, who left after the recording. It is their last album with lead vocalist, Kurt Travis. They have also made a music video for "Tree Village". It is their second release thus far to provide lyrics for each song in the CD booklet (Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean being the first).
Happiness peaked at number 145 on the Billboard 200 and 30 on the Top Independent Albums chart.[5]
Track listing
| 1. |
"Tree Village" |
3:20 |
| 2. |
"NASA" |
3:35 |
| 3. |
"I'm Down with Brown Town" |
3:01 |
| 4. |
"Carl Barker" |
5:13 |
| 5. |
"Happiness" (featuring Tony Tataje) |
3:30 |
| 6. |
"Self-Trepanation" |
3:13 |
| 7. |
"Strawberry Swisher, Pt. 1" |
3:28 |
| 8. |
"Don't Tell Dave" |
3:17 |
| 9. |
"Strawberry Swisher, Pt. 2" |
3:07 |
| 10. |
"Powder to the People" |
5:11 |
Total length: |
36:55 |
Personnel
- Dance Gavin Dance
- Kurt Travis – lead vocals
- Will Swan – guitar, unclean vocals, rapping (on track 10)
- Zachary Garren – guitar
- Jason Ellis – bass
- Matt Mingus – drums, percussion
- Additional personnel
- Kris Crummett - production, engineering mixing, mastering
- Neil Engle - engineering
- Jeff Bond - engineering
- Mattias Adolfsson - artwork
References
