Dear And The Headlights

Drunk Like Bible Times

[4.5/5]

Dear And The Headlights have come a long way since we first saw them three years ago warming up 40 kids at Neckbeard’s Soda Bar, a long-since-closed hole in the wall in Tempe, Arizona. With multiple ginormous tours under their belts (alongside everyone from Paramore to Motion City Soundtrack), the Phoenix quintet-made up of rudder-manning acoustic guitarist/singer Ian Metzger, guitarist/keyboardists PJ Waxman and Robert Cissell, bassist Chuckie Duff and drummer Mark Kulvinskas-have gone all-in with their sophomore full-length, Drunk Like Bible Times. There’s a sense that everything matters-every riff, tom hit and held note-especially compared to their more scattershot debut, last year’s Small Steps, Heavy Hooves. The disc is cohesive in a way that’s more instinctual than cerebral, with a premium put on inspired songwriting and expert arrangement over studio pizzazz and polish (though Bob Hoag’s production is top-notch). There’s plaintive pop (“Flowers For My Brain”), full-bodied folk rock (“Now It’s Over”), fragile balladry (“Parallel Lines”) and perfect choruses (“If Not For My Glasses”). Translation: Stop reading this already and go get Drunk Like Bible Times. (EQUAL VISION) Casey Lynch

IN-STORE SESSION WITH VOCALIST/GUITARIST IAN METZGER

How would you compare Small Steps, Heavy Hooves to Drunk Like Bible Times?

I’m way more excited about this record than the last record. The last album was a collection of songs that we had built up over the course of several years. This is a more mature record. It’s the record we wanted to put out last time, it’s representative of what we thought we sounded like before, the band we felt like we were but couldn’t really be back then.

What was different this time?

[We had more] experience and we were working on all new, current songs we wrote collaboratively. That and we didn’t demo anything. The first time we heard recordings of the songs is the actual CD people are getting. We played the songs out live and tried to get the best arrangements we could, even songs that weren’t finished or songs that didn’t have lyrics. It was pretty experimental.

There were a number of themes on the last album: Teeth, your brother John, saying “Oh no!” Are there themes on Drunk?

One of the more prominent themes deals with trying to get rid of the idea that everyone is so separate. For a long time, I’ve had the impression that everything and everyone is very separate and alone and distant from each other, but I think I created my own reality with that perception. Now, with this record and where I’m at, it’s trying to stop all the early-20s “woe is me” bullshit. I think I would rather choose to have the perception that everyone is connected and everyone matters to myself and everyone else. That’s especially reflected in the last song on the record [“I Know”]. We wanted to end the album “up,” like thing’s aren’t as shitty as you want to think they are.

Has your perception changed as to how you view touring, recording and playing in a band?

I’ve think I’ve learned that it has nothing to do with anything I thought it did. Anything that I came into it with, any idea of what I thought it would be isn’t even in the ballpark.

Give us a “for instance.”

I didn’t think that being in a touring band was work. I haven’t had a job now for a year since I’ve been touring. It really is like working a job. You’re employed by a record label and a booking agent and they send you out and they put you to work. Maybe we feel like that because we’re not a party band; touring isn’t a wild time [for us], we’re there to play our songs and play them the best we can. Mötley Crüe would probably answer that question differently. [CL]

ROCKS LIKE:

Dear And The Headlights’ Small Steps, Heavy Hooves

The Snake The Cross The Crown’s Cotton Teeth

The Dear Hunter’s Act 1: The Lake South, The River North EP