Ducking Punches – Dance Before You Sleep

Norwich, UK folk punk act Ducking Punches has come a long way in a short time.  Rising from their humble beginnings of what started out as a mostly stripped down acoustic project – vocalist Dan Allen with minor guitar accompaniment – has evolved into a diversified full band entourage complete with various strings and compositional knowhow.  Their sophomore full length, Dance Before You Sleep, reflects such a strong jump in musicianship that comparisons to countrymen Frank Turner and Mumford & Sons are both inevitable and deserving.  

But the quintet does more than just piggyback on current folk trends.  The group makes waves on their own merit, offering up thought provoking melodies just begging for a mindful ear.  Allen’s knack for descriptive imagery builds a series of engaging narratives and thematic expositions realized by the passionate and fluctuating merger of violins, distant female vocals, and sharp medley of layered guitars.  Opener “It’s Been A Bad Few Weeks” flys out the gate with an audible sense of urgency in the leading lyric “He heard it loud and clear, the silence deafened him,” as the tale of being thrust into independence unravels thereafter.  The sense of conviction remains strong throughout the record, but nowhere does it become higher than in “Big Brown Pills From Lynn.”  As the vivid descriptions of self destructive behaviors and fighting through rock bottom take hold, the song’s look-to-the-sky grandeur captures a sense of resistance – the message of digging in your heels and staying the course taking hold.  

Slowly, Dance Before You Sleep builds hope, rebounding from the album’s initial emotive lows.  “Feels Just Like Home” marks the transformation with upbeat choruses and forceful but optimistic guitars, a sentiment echoed in “The Art of Falling Short’s” underlying determination and horn blasts.  Even the regretful “Why Can’t We Hold It Together” is told through a reflectful, albeit regretful, lens.  The final apology lands strong as “Six Years,” scaling back to a guitar and piano score that allow Allen’s ripped and torn vocals to bleed naked.  Concluding with such simplicity heightens the core theme of taking ownership over one’s past, and coming to peace with one’s demons.

Ducking Punches delivers a good many knockout blows throughout Dance Before You Sleep’s nine track run.  Like any good fight, the album moves and reacts to each hit, knowing when to chain together a few good hits and when to step back, evaluate the playing field and calculate their next move.  That Allen’s strong vocal performance comes matched with an equally dynamic backing set really pushes Dance Before You Sleep into that special territory worthy of repeat listens.  For newcomers, Ducking Punches might be the unlikely underdog, but with Dance Before You Sleep marking one of the year’s best folk punk surprises, that reputation will be quick to change.