Ready for Summer yet? Well with The Dirty Heads flowing through your headphones, the summer euphoria is just a play away. The band refused to skip a beat following their release of Cabin By The Sea, writing during their down time to pile up enough tracks to create this all-acoustic album Home | Phantoms of Summer: The Acoustic Sessions.
Released October 29, these reggae-rock-rappers (Whatever you’d like to classify them as being they almost fulfill a genre of their very own), lead by Jared “Dirty J” Watson and Dustin “Duddy B” Bushnell wanted to take a step back and simplify everything. Watson told Billboard, “"It was a comfortable move from full production to an acoustic album. We started as an acoustic act so we wanted to get back to our roots. We wanted to really dive into our lyrics and melodies." It all shines through because as much as I love full production Dirty Heads, you have to appreciate the mentality.
Getting down to the business, this is a good album. The song standing out above all else for me is “Sloth’s Revenge” simply, well, because this is The Dirty Heads when they’re at their best for me. I love the vintage rap-along melody that the band is known so well for. To me it is just fun, impressive, and captivating and it keeps me listening. This song is a must-listen.
Other notables include “Garland” where it is a softer rap but suitable along a very melodic chorus. “Gold To Me”, a simple song that is a pleasure to listen to throughout. Then of course the not so oldie but good-ie “Cabin By The Sea (Live)” which is a simplified version of the Cabin By The Sea’s version that turns out to be just as good. Peaceful and pleasing is almost the moral of the album.
This album is notable in cases because not only are The Dirty Heads talented at continuing to come up with listen-worthy music, it also seems the band might be growing while staying essential to their sound. Jared Watson’s vocal range is growing, and adding another element to the songs. Meanwhile Dustin Bushnell’s rap-ability seems to be growing and growing. The combination of the two makes the future of the Dirty Heads more and more promising and I personally can’t wait to see what comes of it.
The Dirty Heads – “Sloth’s Revenge”: