Del Paxton – Dogeared EP
It’s been 13 years and change since now-legendary trio Del Paxton debuted their brand of humble, everyman rustbelt-emo to the masses. I’m kidding, of course – their particular brand of scrongly, guitar-forward emo is about as archetypal to the genre as it could possibly be. Hammer-ons and pull-offs; big, beautiful bass parts; and punk (but like, refined punk) drumming are the typical m.o. for these three – not to mention their stubbornly DIY sound/ethos and seemingly infinite command of time signatures other than 4:4. Recorded at GCR studios with Jay Zubricky, their latest offering, the three-song Dogeared EP, is another proud, Buffalonian entry in their now lengthy oeuvre. All things considered, Del Paxton is inarguably one of the most important bands to come out of Buffalo since the turn of the millennium… It’s not a stretch to see them pop up as the latest feature in our Album of the Week conversation.
A cursory glance at these three songs reveal something telling – they’re all over five minutes long. Odd for a punk rock band, but for Del Paxton, perhaps they’ve they’ve mellowed with time, and the extended runtime of each of these songs is the band’s collective understanding of what it means to let something breathe. Opening track “Another Heaven” is exactly what you’d expect from Del P, flush with quick-fingered riffs, high-octane drumming from Greg McClure, and a great harmonized performance that pairs Dylan England’s distinctive howl with Zack Schoedel’s uncannily complimentary backups. Mid song, the trio switches into a gentle jam, a low-key simmer that climaxes with a feature from Ratboys’ Julia Steiner. With Julia’s help, they repeat “Make time / Make reservations.” Whatever that means is up in the air, but it’s this kind of semi-vague, quasi-nostalgic lyrical play that has always helped Del Paxton songs hit so hard. You can sense this same approach on “Inside Out.” It’s nice to hear Del Paxton come out swinging with a big, poppy chord progression (they haven’t abandoned their roots, after all), but when the song slides into either of its contemplative bass-led grooves, you start to realize that maybe these songs symbolize being present more than anything.
Title-track “Dogeared” is a borderline masterpiece. An intro laced with keyboard (!) is the first telltale sign that this song is going to be something special. Lyrically, when England is on, hes on. His words feel almost like the collages that typically grace the bands’ album art – “Sun made parades in your eyes / confetti and shade / You barely believe it / the river / the streets of your town / You go in between it / the hill and the window and now you fold all the pages.” What hill? What river? And yet, they all come together in a way that makes you feel like you’ve experienced this exact scenario once before. By the time the band kicks into high gear with a tempo shift mid-song, it starts to sound like a long lost Third Eye Blind song. There’s even a borderline guitar solo. Long live Del Paxton.
Dogeared EP can be found everywhere – but we recommend stopping by Del Paxton’s bandcamp first which we’ve embedded below. Did we mention it’s being released by Evan Weiss of Into It. Over It. fame? B-side of the EP will be from Michigan-based act Retirement Party.
Categorised in: Album of the Week
This post was written by Nick Sessanna