It’s 08:15 on a sticky summer Thursday, the heat is already picking up. You sit in your sweat-box of a car, ruing not getting your AC regassed and look left and right in the static traffic. To your left another worker drone does the same as you, but to your right you are surprised, someone sits there belting out the air drums to an unknown track, sweat pouring off them, but the biggest grin is writ large across their face. They’re probably listening to the new Dinosaur Pile-Up record I’ve Felt Better, and really you should be too, here’s why.
With just a light scratch, the depth of this record is revealed. If you look past the raucous riffs, big arena rock drums and buoyant vocals there’s a stark revealing truth hidden behind it all, it’s clear that it’s not been an easy period for Dinosaur Pile-Up. Just like that person hammering out the drums in their car next to you, Matt Bigland decided he was going to do things his way with the latest record, releasing the ego and the unconscious bias towards success and acclaim to produce a record that is a product of catharsis, vulnerability, pain and ultimately resilience in the face of what life has to throw at us.
“There is a genuine feel of triumphant exultation throughout, a middle finger to the things that sidetrack us in life...”
I’ve Felt Better showcases everything there is to love about Dinosaur Pile-Up the riffs are ear-worms, the vocals and drums hit hard and there’s enough variety in there to keep the interest up throughout the record (even if they seem to have taken a backseat to the lyrical stylings). The stand-out track ‘My Way’ is a defiant kick to the balls to the roadblocks of life, that has breakdowns, squealing metal-esque solos and a huge chorus that should be lighting up ginormous venues in the near future. Some of the other tracks come close, but the raw emotion behind this one in particular really epitomises the strength of this new offering.
Previous Dinosaur Pile-Up releases might have carried the same aesthetic vein through them, but not always the same level of depth of emotion or cathartic release than I’ve Felt Better. That’s not to say they didn’t touch on these things at all, more that it’s more clearly writ all over the collection of songs. There is a genuine feel of triumphant exultation throughout, a middle finger to the things that sidetrack us in life, and despite all of this DPU have met that challenge with an over exuberant record that has such levels of maturity to it, they are belied by its outward appearance. In the words of Matt Bigland, “Nah, quitting ain’t my style, so fuck it!.”