DC-based alternative rockers, Dot Dash, seem to welcome the stormy weather in their latest album Madman in the Rain. Driven by chorus-filled guitar chords and light synthesizers, the album sits paradoxically on the line between joy and melancholy in both tone and lyricism.
Many of these songs feel like they started with an acoustic guitar and vocals like with the title track. It has that electrified feeling of a singer-songwriter energy that has the support of a full band behind them. The chords are all very full while the solo guitar lines have an almost spaghetti-western-like twang to them that are more interested affect than demonstrating wild technical skills. Because of its focus on simplicity and feel, “Madman in the Rain”, and the rest of the songs on the album, feel inviting and full of heart
And when you look at the album’s cover, the silhouette of a mysterious figure in front of a courthouse-looking building brings themes of trials, juries, and spectacles of morality to the forefront. And though the album doesn’t feel urgent, there is plenty of reflection on personal relationships and worldly surroundings that feel full of mystique when put under the magnifying glass of good songwriting and lyricism.
Madman in the Rain is available now on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and BandCamp. Find this and more excellent music on the Alcheical Records Multigenere Mixture playlist on Spotify.
Charlie Maybee is a dancer, musician, educator, and writer based in Charleston, South Carolina who currently teaches with the Dance Program at the College of Charleston. His primary work as an artist is with his performing collective, Polymath Performance Project, through which he makes interdisciplinary performance art that centers tap dance as the primary medium of expression and research. He also currently plays rhythm guitar for the Charleston-based punk band, Anergy, and releases music as a solo artist under the name Nox Eterna.
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After AFI DOCS’s departure, the capital city once again has a documentary festival.
Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
