Dananananaykroyd are a riotous rock sextet who hail from the legendary music town of Glasgow, Scotland. Glasgow has spawned the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Primal Scream, Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai, and The Fratellis so Dananananaykroyd are already in revered company. They have dubbed their sound “fight pop” but what you get is generally a lot cleaner than that would imply. It is an energetic brand of punk-pop, like Jimmy Eat World or Weezer, that occasionally veers into all-out punk territory. With the help of producer Ross Robinson (Korn, Slipknot, At The Drive-In) Dananananaykroyd have made and released There Is A Way - the follow-up to their 2009 debut, Hey Everyone! It is a mixed bag that is fun if a little shallow.
The first song on the album is called ‘Reboot’ and that is pretty much what it is. It picks up right where the band left off two years ago and keeps the momentum moving forwards. Music with this level of adolescent energy lives and dies by how vital it is and the band, who I’m sure understand this completely, really let rip as if their lives depend on it. ‘Muscle Memory’, the album’s first single, is a silly wee number that is quite tongue-in-cheek right up until the faux-hardcore breakdown that brings it back to reality. For every clever hook or cunning turn of phrase there is an entirely unmemorable song to detract from it (‘Seven Days Late’, ‘All Us Authors’, and ‘Good Time’ are prime offenders). By the end of the album you will probably have had your fill of peppy riffs, fleet drumming, androgynous screams. Dual singers Calum Gunn and John Baille Jr trade lead vocals that sit somewhere between a nasal wail and a bratty scream. When their native Scottish accents slip through, as they do on ‘E Numbers’ or the Devo-like ‘Think & Feel’, they really stand out and manage to charm.
If this album had come out in the early 2000s I have little doubt that it would have been an unqualified success. Circa 2004 bands like Hot Hot Heat, The Rapture, and indie-core darlings The Blood Brothers were in full swing and There Is A Way would have been lapped right up. Unfortunately Dananananaykroyd are a little behind the curve on that trend. That being said they are still a quirky alternative to the glut of sunny indie rockers prevalent today. If you want something upbeat that won’t tax your mental reserves too severely then There Is A Way might just be for you even if a few generic numbers gum up the works.
