As they near the release of their new album Closer To Death, Baltimore's Unicorn Dogs are back with another sneak preview single. And as the album title suggests, you ought not to expect light songs about frolicking in the park or basking in fairy tale happy endings. What we have here are a couple more dark songs for dark times — delivered with an energy and catchiness that make these bitter pills remarkably easy to swallow. Unicorn Dogs, simply put, are one of the greatest pop-punk bands going these days. I now cease to be surprised any time their next release is even better than their last. On this latest single, they're not trying to be overly dramatic or deliberately morose. They're just dishing out a heavy dose of real talk. "Bogus Journey" is an unflinching reflection on living in a modern world characterized by "a dearth of kindness" (an observation that's on the money, I'm sad to say). The song plays on the timeless "Life's a bitch, and then you die" theme and notes that no matter how bad things get, they can always get worse. Depending on your perspective, that truth will be either really depressing or oddly comforting. "No one gets out alive" is the song's refrain, and that's no lie.
"One Disaster Away" is more specifically in the social commentary category. At a time when one party's political power is reliant on millions of normal people believing they are just one big break away from being rich, this song goes the other way and notes that we're all just one misfortune away from losing everything. The idea that we could ever be part of the elite class is pure delusion — as is the notion that we're "better" than people who are serving time or living on the street. So yeah, this is not exactly easy listening. You're probably not going to cue up these songs at your next house party (and if you are, I probably would want to party with you!). But when it comes to making meaningful music with all the conviction in the world behind it, Unicorn Dogs are hard to beat. They play pop-punk with guts and soul. They're inching even closer to Closer to Death, and I can't wait!
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