Darwin & The Dinosaur – A Thousand Ships

Norwich, England natives Darwin & The Dinosaur have returned with the spring thaw to deliver A Thousand Ships on No Panic! Records. For fans of The Menzingers, At The Drive-In, or The Get-Up Kids; Alan Hiom leads his merry musical misfits into the high tide of hi-fi. D&TD will take to Europe for tour dates at the end of March and through April.

Churning out music since 2008, A Thousand Ships explores the emotions of breakups and the stitching of broken hearts on the high seas. Everybody sounds like The Menzingers these days, but these lads take the emotion of those Philly fanatics and put it behind melodic and dream-like guitars.

Life at Sea is a great instrumental interlude that breaks up the first part of the album. Make Believe has the best chorus of the album: Satellites in flight/bid you all goodnight/and empty skies/There’s nothing there/There never was/between the ground and the gods/ just make believe. Hand in Hand is like chamomile tea on a rainy day, soothing and relaxing among the tumult of modern life. The album’s closer Change of Heart brings it all together nicely.

This ain’t your typical pleasure cruise, but it is a pleasure.