Noise By Numbers – High On Drama

Dan Schafer sports one of the most recognizable voices in contemporary pop-punk.  His name is synonymous with a plethora of high profile three-chord acts, from dormant legacy bands The Methadones and The Riverdales to the presently active Dan Vapid And The Cheats and Noise By Numbers.  The former lands mostly in line with his peppier younger self (resonating from his Screeching Weasel years), while the former matches a darker, more levelled side (more in tune with The Methadones).  With such a prolific career, you can sure bet that Schafer has something cooking at any given time.

At this particular point, Schafer has been hard at work on the next addition to the Noise By Numbers body of work in the form of the six-song EP, High On Drama.  Schafer hasn’t typically been one for EP’s, so the format comes as somewhat of a modest surprise.  Give it a listen though, and the reasoning might come a little clearer.  High On Drama might be the farthest that Schafer has travelled from the safety of familiarity in quite some time.  Even with his unwavering trademark vocals holding strong, the encircling atmosphere feels… different.  Different in a more mature sense than a 45 year old Schafer typically lets on.

But there is at least one clue to forewarn fans.  For starters, the cover’s blue colouration concurrently hints at High On Drama’s uncharacteristically subdued nature.  Opening with the title track, guitarists Jeff Dean and Schafer shy away from the safety of quick landing pop-punk chords in favour of a far more methodical alt/rock vibe.  For instance, “Rudderless” and “Make Up Your Heart” feel far more relaxed in composition and tempo than with past works.  Choruses land heavier with weightier late-song bridges binding them together, and a somewhat unconventional chord selection defining the former.  Most telling though, is how a keen ear can zero in on some vague District Lines era Bob Mould flowing through the sentimental piece, “Town Of Hamburg.”

The only downside to High On Drama’s more mellow approach is the lack of energy responsible for building up previous outings.  In other words, there are some mildly depressing moments scattered about (Schafer’s trademark robotic tone doesn’t help in this regard).  It’s not a game breaker, but offers some modest room for improvement next time around (provided the band doesn’t disband after its brief run like many of Schafer’s projects).

As should be clear, listeners will find a lot less familiarity in High on Drama than one would expect from six-tracks featuring one of pop-punk’s most discernable voices.  Only “Southgate House” feeds the predictable melody meets-vocal-harmonies of past performances (which feels comfortingly like an alternative take of The Methadones’ b-side, “Take Me To Japan”).  Otherwise, High On Drama marks fairly new terrain for Noise By Numbers.  Long time fans will no doubt need to let to this one sink in before forming their opinion, but for a divergent effort in Schafer’s mostly homogenous discography, fans won’t want to overlook High On Drama.