Exactly How We Planned by Dakota Floyd

Even though he thinks I have a British accent, Dakota Floyd is one of the best things I know about Georgia. Maybe tied with his dog, Soda. Both are better than Waffle House. Dakota’s 2016 album Localities spent a few months in my Caravan’s cd player, so I pretty much knew what to expect. Exactly How We Planned has only 3 songs and two of them are really short. Maybe there’s also a 7” version somewhere. I didn’t do any research. Exactly How We Planned makes you feel at home even when being at home makes you sad. It is a sadness you are comfortable with.

You might call it acoustic pop punk or emotional folk punk, never without that special bit of sass that colored everything in the mid 2000s. The overdriven guitar and back-up vocals add an air of rowdiness and whimsy that never feels stilted. Rosa Song features a super talented tambourine player that doesn’t get any credit on the cd sleeve. I could definitely imagine this song being played in the background on Dawson’s Creek, especially if they move the show to a different streaming service and have to change all the music.

Dakota sings “This house smells like a Rosa Song” and I try imagine what a Rosa song does smell like: hand-rolled cigarettes wafting in from the front porch, a box of half-rotten dumpstered food, a bagless trash bin filled with the drippings of a thousand crushed beer cans, a mixture of patchouli and body odor, a toilet that hasn’t been scrubbed since the lease began, a family of cats that all live behind an occasionally cracked door in the back of the house. Am I getting warm? I wonder if the day of the punk “punk house” has passed.

The title track has one of those lo-fi/phone singing intros before the song kicks in, like it’s 2003 all over again. I’m so glad Dakota remembered to do one of those intros. I always forget. Maybe right after I schedule this post, I’ll go ahead and fix one of my mixes. We’ll call it a shout back. Lyrically, it hits you just right. I love the anti-solo, delayed guitar in the second half. Maybe it’s for the best that life never goes as planned. Sometimes people surprise you in the best ways, like with the lo-fi/phone singing intro. Thanks Dakota. You're better than Waffle House.

"Stay the Same" by TRAGWAG

Nice:

1. Pleasing; agreeable; delightful

3. characterized by showing, or requiring great accuracy, precision, skill, tact, care, or delicacy

5. minute, fine, or subtle

6. having or showing delicate, accurate perception

8. virtuous; respectable; decorous

Sometimes I say nice punk, referencing a type of exceptionally good punk rocker.  They're good in the sense that they’ve done their homework and they dress just how they are supposed to.  They are vegan and drive hybrid cars, careful to never offend or entice disapproval of any kind.  In fact, they are probably too talented and well-to-do for a scene of alleged rejects who want to be heard but don’t intend to become good at their instruments.  They are try-hards and have chosen punk rock because they need to recognized as the best in their field.  

Other times a nice punk can be artfully sincere with a talent for kindness. They don't blame their problems on society.  They practice love for everyone and genuinely care about the things they do and the things they create.  In a better sense of nice punk, the name TRAGWAG (that really awesome guy with a guitar) seems to indicate a call for self love.  However Tragwag isn’t just a group of slackers on the fence about quitting their band and moving to Austin or Philly.  Instead, all of Tragwag's instrumentation is written and played by Tyler Bisson.  

Every track demonstrates a clear respect for the work put into its conception.  In fact, Tyler’s attention to detail is baffling.  In riffs, beats, and feedback loops I know he is speaking my language in ways I cannot articulate.  Stay the Same affirms my belief that sometimes if you are the one to start writing a song, then you should be the one to finish it.  

I love the breakdown in Outlook and savored the clear rack tom and slick acoustic guitar while pondering nostalgia-injected verses.  The quiet, anthemic vocals remind me of the first time I heard Rainer maria.  Stay the Same is emo, but it’s not just emo.  It’s a lot of things.  It is the pacing and deep, dragging snare drum on Far.  It is the singing that is pretty without trying to be sexy.  It is that part in That Was Me that makes you remember the first scene you were part of and then that other part that makes you want to bob your head like you did at your first show and then the fade out to that gasp of fresh air as everyone piles out of the basement.  

Everything sounds nice, natural, and practiced.   For our enjoyment.  

Please note that I would like to claim permanent credit for coining the term Nice Punk.