Back during my senior year of high school, Dan Black’s debut album, Un, was on repeat in my car for at least a full year. It was something my sister and I legitimately never grew tired of, and we still love it to this day. Somehow, his follow-up album, some seven years later slipped under our radar, but now I’m finally giving Do Not Revenge its time in the sun.
While obviously different, this album reminded me in so many ways of Un, and for that, I love it. Now, with that being said, I do not love all the songs, but none are outright bad, they’re just not my style. Some songs more than others really reminded me of Un, especially “Space Invaders” and “Plastic Hearts.” They both really featured similar types of lyrics, vocal and musical layering, and were just catchy as hell! I would even argue that the lead track, “Wash Away,” gave off strong Un vibes at times. The one thing that really bothered me about that song though, as well as a few others on the record, is that it just went a little too long. Like, you could hear a natural ending and then he tacked on another chorus. Not something I’m used to hearing artists do, and I don’t really think it helped him out here.
Something that was really different this time around was that Dan Black had a woman featured in a couple of his tracks. That woman, to my sincere shock, was Kelis. That’s right, the “my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard,” Kelis. Crazy! She was featured on both “Farewell” and “We Drift On.” Honestly, their vocals compliment each other really well. The first song, “Farewell,” wasn’t my cup of tea at all. It sounded really poppy and almost boy-band-esque. It actually probably could have done really well on mainstream radio, in my opinion. While I didn’t love “We Drift On,” I can at least say I enjoyed it better than the first offering. Again, I was really floored to hear someone featured on this record, let alone it being Kelis. Although, I suppose I shouldn’t be that surprised considering his debut record offered a remix featuring Kid Cudi.
Overall, this record really reminded me of space, especially with offerings like “Zoo,” “Polar Bears,” and “Ballad of Player 1Up.” That’s not something I really connected with on the album, but I can’t deny the creative lyrical genius of the latter song. Another really creative lyrical song has to be “Blow.” These are just combinations and phrases I would never think of. One line in particular that stood out on the album came from the opening track where Black sings, “Pac-Man ghosts around my bed.” So random, but captures a feeling so accurately! Of the twelve tracks off this album, my favorite had to be “So.” It reminded me so much of my favorite track off of Un, “Let Go.” Perhaps because they both say “let go” so much in them?
I look forward to giving this album a lot more love in the months to come and I have a feeling it’ll be right up there with Un by the time I’m done listening to it. If you’ve never listened to Dan Black before, well, you must! One of my favorites, for sure.