Dance Gavin Dance - Acceptance Speech Album Review: All Eleven Tracks Analyzed
5. Doom And Gloom Dance Gavin Dance follow up the most aggressive song on the album with one that is reminiscent of the band's self-titled 2008 album. Pearson presents one of his strongest vocal performances on the album, channeling the howling grit of former vocalist Kurt Travis on the striding verses. The verse is further enhanced by the exciting double bass-drum rolls at the end of each four measure repeat. The song is also highlighted by a breathtaking guitar composition and performance by Will Swan. The knotted, staccato riff that appears following the second chorus is especially impressive; creating a tone and rhythm that closely resembles 8-bit, computer generated music. Swan's mastery also creates the undesirable side-effect of casting the rest of the band's music in an unflattering light, making it appear to be nothing more than wallpaper, when in reality it enhances his guitar playing, adding human emotion and an anchoring base that keeps his wild experimentation grounded. 6. Strawberry Swisher pt. 3 The band turn to the lighter side of their sound on "Strawberry Swisher pt. 3," allowing Pearson's clean vocals to become the center of the listener's focus. The song does share the bright mood and funk inspired guitar effects found on the first two songs in the series as heard on 2009's Happiness. The introduction of the song plays as a hyper-speed transformation of the slow, tremolo effected guitar intro of "Strawberry Swisher pt. 1," giving the astute listener at least one concrete example of a musical link between the myriad of multi-part song series' the band have created over their five albums. Pearson sings the chorus with impressive passion, greatly improving the listener's ability to emotionally engage with his vocals, as opposed to early in the album, when his lines seemed to be delivered with a certain detached aloofness. "Strawberry Swisher pt. 3" is a perfectly competent, moderately underwhelming mid-album song.