Cincinnati, Ohio’s The Dopamines have recorded their first album in seven years, 80/20. The record’s thirteen songs are an assault of melodic riffs and catchy lyrics presented in a way that’s musically fun for a record with some serious subject matter.
The album opens with “Wedge,” “For Heaven’s Sake Pt. 2,” and “The Doctor.” There is so much energy between these songs. “For Heaven’s Sake Pt. 2” and “The Doctor” do this interesting thing where they both end on the same riff. The melodic riff at the end of “The Doctor” gives the album a chance to decompress a bit, but not too much. 80/20 never has a dull moment. After this barrage of tracks, “Tamper Resistant,” “State of Being,” and “The Other Room” keep us going. There are some great sequences of letting the bass and drums shine and then slowly bringing everyone back into the fold.
One of the best parts about this album is how surgical the placement of the vocals is. Giving the backup vocals more to do than whoas and yeahs may take a cue from some of those early Descendents records, but the precision and randomness weaved with both Jon Lewis and Jon Weiner’s lead vocals are impressive. The calls and answers in sync with the starts and stops of the music would sound too polished if it was filtered through a different band.
Bassist Jon Weiner left the band back in June after finding God and getting sober with the help of his friends and family. This was definitely on the mind of the band while putting together this album. This sort of over arching theme kind of gives this a feeling of being a concept album. It’s a different type of group therapy.
The under-a-minute “Jon Goes To Camp” feels like a song about group therapy. “Parasite Lost’s” lyrics get heavy, talking about the fear of taking meds to help with depression, and end with the repeating lines, “Take two, swallow, you’ll be empty tomorrow / Take two, swallow, you’ll be happy tomorrow.” In “Groundhog Day Parade,” the lyrics explore the thoughts of not reaching out for help: “It’s on the tip of my tongue / Feel the memory losing grip / The corpses trying to hang on / I’m reaching out with a phantom limb.” Being either the person in recovery or someone who is helping the person navigate the feelings of anxiety or depression as a result can be hard. There’s comfort in lyrics and songs like this to validate that all of the feelings are okay.
The album was recorded in 2023 by Grammy Award-winning producer Chris Dugan, who has previously worked with several projects ranging from smaller bands like The Phenomenauts and The Swinging Utters to bigger bands like Green Day and Weezer. The results are fantastic. While 80/20 is a nice send-off for Jon Weiner, it’s a shame he won’t tour on it. This album truly is something to be proud of on many levels. This was my first full Dopamines album, and I’m kicking myself for not listening to more than a song here or there. Don’t let this album pass you by. 80/20 is due out October 18th on Rad Girlfriend Records.