Odd Dates – Deep Cuts Don’t Keep The Mansion Running

Odd Dates are a duo from Michigan, consisting of Jeremy Dye and Sam Padalino, that have been collaborating together for over a decade. Deep Cuts Don’t Keep The Mansion Running is a self released album, meaning they are doing things completely on their own terms and this album is a testament to a DIY spirit. Accompanying this spirit of independence is the fact Odd Dates are a band that utterly defy categorisation, their compositions are an interesting cocktail of styles, there are elements of hardcore, math rock, punk, emo, indie and pretty much everything else in sight. These ingredients are all poured together to create a chaotic and genre spanning full length.

The guitar style changes and flows throughout the album, whilst they claim to have a math rock influence this doesn’t fall into the usual trap of being an elaborate guitar jam, there are snatches of the complex riffs that are a trademark of Mathcore but these are blended with other styles and approaches. The track Games is a blend of this matched with a hardcore vocal delivery, one that spits venom and ends with a heartfelt fuck you. The album continues to veer randomly between styles, indie, emo and even touches of pop punk also creep into the album, and just when you think they’ve crossed every genre they can, you get the get thrown another curve ball, the track Wasting is one of the most experimental tracks you’ll hear this year.

Deep Cuts Don’t Keep The Mansion Running is a unique album made by people who are fiercely defiant and independent, an album as diverse as this is never going to be to everyone’s taste on every track, and it certainly wasn’t in my case, but there are tracks that will be appreciated and I can certainly appreciate a spirit of independence when I hear it. If you want to hear something that has it’s own distinct style and refuses to be pinned down then you might well want to investigate Odd Dates.

Deep Cuts Don’t Keep The Mansion Running will be released on July 22nd 2016 and can be ordered direct from the Odd Dates here