Album Review: Dryjacket – ‘For Posterity’
Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
Dryjacket’s debut album For Posterity jumps straight into that all too familiar noodley math emo overlain with a polished voice strewn with pop sensibilities. I would say they fit into a pocket with bands such as Blis., Perspective a lovely hand to hold, Microwave, and Oso Oso I suppose. But what sets them apart so early in the game is their restraint. By not delving too far into the mathy genre and not boring us too much with mediocre pop, they balance perfectly on a fence with albums like Peripheral Vision. Albums that are aurally pleasing and blend right into the background to provide a perfect soundtrack for spring renewal and adventuring out after a few months hibernating, but not bland enough to be categorized as elevator music.
I sincerely admire the brevity of the album; I’m already three songs in and I’ve barely begun to analyze it for you all. There is merit to that, though; being in an up and coming band puts you in people’s ears who wouldn’t normally hear you and when that happens, you have a very minute time frame to captivate them and convince them not to press next. So I’m less than five minutes in and I’ve already heard a vast orchestration including but not limited to a trumpet, xylophone, acoustic guitar, and of course – noodles.
“Spelling Era” has a moody membrane that weaves between lounge rock (a term coined by my brother) and jumpy subdivision, managing to pull me right back in before I let my mind wander and forget what I’m listening to.
While the middle of the album doesn’t offer any standout tracks and begins to blend together, the musicianship doesn’t go unnoticed. Dryjacket’s guitarists are as tap happy as Tiny Moving Parts, they just choose not to show it. I also genuinely appreciate the usage of jazzy chords (re: the end of Abe LinkedIn). It reminds me a lot of their upcoming tour mates Perspective, a lovely hand to hold, whom I wholeheartedly adore.
There was hope with music video worthy track “Misused Adrenaline” when they managed to write possibly the catchiest hook on the album. “Everyone’s wrong and now look, the sun is dimming” has been stuck in my head since I first saw the video, and honestly kept bringing me back to the record. Put this song on a playlist for whoever you have a crush on. Trust me, I’m an unpaid music journalist.
Riding on the coattails of my revived attention, “Milo with an H” swoons in peaks and paints a picture of the earnest honesty crawling out of vocalist Joe Junod’s lungs. Opting for a lighthearted closer, they break out an acoustic guitar for “Ana [an-uh, an-nuh]”, tying the whole album right back to the beginning. Dryjacket have potential, and I still find myself chuckling at the quirky wordplay layered throughout For Posterity.
This album is an admirable start, and congratulations are in order for managing to release a record on a label with that much merit so early on in a band’s career (at least I think? according to Twitter they’ve been around since 2014 but it doesn’t look like they released anything until 2015). Either way, congrats! For Posterity is a great start and will for sure garner a lot of new eyes and ears while still leaving a lot of room to grow.
6.9/10
You can order the album here: http://dryjacket.merchnow.com/
– Christopher Musser
