What better than a deceptively upbeat collection of raucous guitar, mandolin, trumpet and even occasionally a washboard to shine a light on our Insta-Tok-fueled collective existential dread?
In their latest offering, the 4-track EP Pyrrhic Victory, Loveland, Colorado’s Doom Scroll deliver cautionary tales of modern-day electronic disassociation with a healthy dose of ska and folk to help the medicine go down.
A uniquely varied crew themselves – Elliot Lozier (We the Heathens and Atrocity Solution) and Taylor Dittman (Broken Bow, Hermit Stew) are joined by Chatterbox and the Latter Day Satanist’s singer-songwriter Micah Butler, Jon Pizarro of the black metal/folk project Dead Work and Marissa Sendejas, who has pursued a longtime solo career and has been a member of CLDS, Chad Hates George and Days N Daze – their collective sound results in an upbeat, addictive collection of songs destined to make you put down the phone or computer and dive into your local mosh pit…with other humans, you know…interacting…in person!
Building on themes from their previous album, Immoral Compass, the first track, “Anoxic,” reminds us that, while the virtual world keeps our minds entertained, it is also void of elements to support human life. But, lest you fall too hard into a spiral of despair, the delightful mandolin melody suggests that there may still be an iota of hope after all.
“Boss Fight” features Lozier’s brother, Zack, on the trumpet, and a rousing anthem asks us, “When will we see this is all fake? It’s all a show, a masquerade.” And, again, we’re swept into a unique, circus-like sound that promises a good time can still be had, and damn the Sunday Scaries.
Rest assured, the band’s punk roots run deep, and the track “Felled Spirits” is perhaps the most pessimistic of the bunch, and, appropriately, is also the most hard-core, musically.
Legend has it that the band played on, even as the Titanic sank. Doom Scroll wants us to know that, though the spoils of human innovation may eventually be our downfall, we might as well enjoy ourselves along the way.
Pyrrhic Victory will be released October 6th, via Bottles to the Ground, Fat Wreck Chords‘ newest imprint.
