Danny Dysentery - Making Friends With Fear

I think I need to correct what I've said before about me not liking horror punk very much. I actually only dislike horror punk when it's super dark and humorless. But give me horror punk that's fun, and I'm all about it! I've been a big fan of Danny Dysentery (The Ills, Please Stop!) going back to the early days of this blog. He recently released Making Friends With Fear - a horror-themed solo album full of upbeat songs about gruesome things. Many familiar characteristics of Danny's songwriting are evident here. Seven of 11 tracks come in under two minutes. And when Stacy sings co-lead vocals on "Bookmark", it's impossible to not be reminded of the aforementioned bands. But overall, the feel of this record is different. It's way on the poppier side of punk rock, with keyboards and touches of surf guitar lightening the mood considerably. This is not so much an album for people who want to reflect on death and terror as it is one for people who derive tremendous pleasure from horror movies (although I guess a person could be both!). It's fun and melody-driven, yet strange enough to keep it from being lumped in with "typical" pop-punk. And for me it passes the important test where I would like these songs even if the lyrics were about politics, meteorology, or toothpaste. Danny sure knows how to write interesting and catchy tunes! Making Friends With Fear was almost entirely a DIY project on Danny's part. He spent a year making this album at home, and it really turned out cool. And for the very affordable price of free, it's well worth checking out!

 
-L.R.

https://dannydysentery.bandcamp.com/album/making-friends-with-fear