Review Summary: The robot dies. A new machine is born.
Bull*** about "new Bugattis" and mother***ers being made golden aside,
Acceptance Speech is a catchy album with hooks galore. From the fretboard rampaging of "Doom & Gloom" to the more melodic moments of songs like "The Robot With Human Hair pt. 4" that perfectly set up and frame Tilian Pearson's signature vocal delivery as well as they tune in on Jon Mess's equal yet opposite approach, there is nothing soft or subpar about this album. Except the lyrics, which sound like they were written by an angsty 14 year old with the imagination of a 12 year old.
Still, there's enough redemption in the ever-astonishing vocal delivery and vivacious instrumental undercurrent of every song on
Acceptance Speech to make it enjoyable through and through. A little more prominence lent to Will Swan's melodic, hyperactive, and on-point guitar work would benefit Dance Gavin Dance going forward, but it's easy to see that the goal of
Acceptance Speech is more in establishing a sing-along, jump around atmosphere, and, in that, the "partycore" label is neither inaccurate nor an albatross.
This isn't
Downtown Battle Mountain III - it's an album that plays to a wider audience with a few more restraints. And that's okay. It's not the pinnacle of DGD's career, nor should anyone expect it to be. It is, however, a fun and, dare I say, addicting album which shows an initial synergy between the group's latest incarnation that will only percolate and mature over time, playing to the pop strengths of Tilian's new vocal dynamic and the way he intermingles with Mess's love-it-or-hate-it vocal attack and the much manipulated post-hardcore sound the band's instrumental section offers.
So take
Acceptance Speech for what it is: an earnestly fun approach to making music and feeling out things with a new group that doesn't involve a strung-out scam artist for once.
