Danvers – Like We Knew What It Meant

Danvers have been pigeon holed as a pop/emo punk band from Pittsburgh USA and that’s pretty much what your son a get, although this is not a genre that grabs my attention on a regular basis, the pop side of punk is a great genre, its the emo that sometimes drags my head down to places I just don’t wanna go (trying to be upbeat is not always easy, so try to stay away from things that make it harder), but having said all that shit, I can always get the energy and emotion that goes into this side of punk.  So with all that said and yep It was a whole old of stuff to just say “I like some of it, but not all, and these guys do have something stand out to give”.

Like We Knew What It Meant is from what I can make out the bands second full length, the first being Jazz Standards back in 2016 (I stand to be corrected), it comes in as a hefty 14 tracks and drives at speed that fluctuates dramactically, kick off track Lights! Camera! Cobra! Floors the accelerator and has something of a soul pouring out attitude, its vocal hits like a pile driver to the ears.  Then you get dropped something like VI. Andante ‘Leaving Violenty’ which never really leaves the garage, yet still pulls some emotional strings quite literally with its interlude vibes.

But to be perfectly honest, this is an album that will always have you feeling differently throughout, its got the highly charged songs like ‘Cliff Jumper’ which feels totally literal, ‘Posi Osbourne’ which reaches hardcore for precisely seconds, the madly long titled ‘Do You Think Love Can Bloom…Even On A Battlefield’ a bruising thought provoking beast.  Then we get some epiphany moments (or is that just a dodgy lightbulb flickering? Make your own mind up), ‘There’s No ‘I’ In A Modern Country Cover Band’, ‘Crash & Sink and ‘Best Episode’ seem to fit this bill.

All in all a pretty accomplished piece of work, doesn’t rip the rule book up, doesn’t burn the place to the ground, but has every “best album ever made” always done this from the get go?  Slide your comfy shoes on and be prepared to have them kicked off across the room at times, we all need albums like this at some point in our lives.

Out now and totally DIY, to connect, listen and engage just click right HERE