Wait, what year is it again?
One listen to I’ve Felt Better and I’d be prepared to swear it’s 1998 and, you know what, I’m fine with that.
The fifth album from Dinosaur Pile Up, and their first in six years, I’ve Felt Better takes its cues from a heady mix of sun-kissed So-Cal punk, Everclear, Weezer, Pavement, and even a hint of Sugar Ray. Occasionally heavy, always dizzyingly melodic, it’s the perfect summer soundtrack, and it’s nice to kick back with an album that just feels a little laid back in these increasingly febrile times.
Not that the opening number is particularly chilled. Coming hot out of the gates, ‘Bout To Lose It finds the band at their heaviest and, although it lands feet first in the middle of a singalong chorus, the riff that kicks the whole thing off has a metallic punch that gets the party started with a bang. Then we’re into the sunny alt-rock of the title track – a song that harks all the way back to Everclear’s slacker classic Sparkle And Fade, both in terms of melody and delivery. I honestly didn’t think bands really made music like this anymore, and I’m so happy to discover that they do.
Having got the album off to a solid start, the band offer up another heavy hitter with Punk Kiss, which offers stabbing alt-rock riffing and a melody drawn straight from The Wildheart’s playbook, honeyed harmonies and all. Next up, the pop-punk of Sick Of Being Down keeps things frothy before My Way taps into a similar vein of goofy hip hop to Beastie Boys via the Bloodhound Gang, offsetting the smoothly rapped verses with yet another brilliantly addictive chorus (which is to say nothing of the sharply observed lyrics). The first half of the album wraps up with the palm-muted chug of Big Dogs, which adopts Weezer’s Beverly Hills template and throws in some Pennywise attitude for good measure.
Opening side two, the surging pop punk riffing of Big You And Me hits hard and fast, before anti-anthem Love’s The Worst upends pop tradition in a manner not heard since Ben Folds Five tore through Song For The Dumped. With its quiet loud structure, it has more than a hint of Bowling For Soup’s shenanigans about it and, of course, it all leads to a chorus that’ll have you punching the air – a common phenomenon throughout this brisk album.
Proving Billy Corgan is not the only one with a penchant for whimsical titles, Quasimodo Melonheart finds the band offering up an anthem for the misfits, before the acoustic-led Sunflower captures the essential innocence of youth in a manner that recalls Bob Mould’s gritty power pop. More surprising is the band’s cheeky reworking of Blur’s schizophrenic Song 2 into the bouncy Unfamiliar, the splenetic riff that rounds out the chorus doing its best to burn a hole through your speakers. And then, all of a sudden, we’re at the end. With the album having blazed past, closer I Don’t Love Nothing And Nothing Loves Me arrives all too soon, catching the listener off guard with one last snappy blast of exceptionally catchy power pop.
I’ve Felt Better is an absolutely glorious throwback to the days when the likes of Everclear, Weezer, the Wildhearts, and Pavement ruled the airwaves. Boasting a wealth of slacker pop anthems with a glint in their eye, massive rockers, and hip-hop tinged digressions, the whole album is just fun – something we need more than ever in these dark times.
With the band on tour, don’t miss the opportunity to catch them airing these tunes live but, whatever you do, grab a copy of I’ve Felt Better – the band may be in search of a brighter future, but with this album they’ve done their damnedest to ensure a brighter present for their fans. 9/10
