Review Summary: I wish I knew just what you need
I was at the last Warped Tour down in Mountain View, CA. I checked out the lineup and I was surprised to see Meg And Dia on it. I was like, "they're still playing music", It'd be cool to check out their set and relive the good ol' days with songs like Monster, Roses, etc.
When I got to their set there was a huge crowd eagerly waiting for the Frampton sisters, when they showed up and they played Indiana I was hooked and remembered how amazing of performers Meg And Dia are, so talented the two of them. The show was amazing with the crowd singing along and holding up their CDs. The setlist also consisted of all fan favorites.
That's why a few days after I was surprised when Pure Noise Records sends me an email saying that Meg And Dia dropped a new album, happysad. Not only that, when I checked out happysad, it was not only musically different from their past material, happysad is Meg And Dia's best album so far.
Something Real, Our Home Is Gone, etc. are all amazing albums but only with killer songs here and there. However, happysad feels like a cohesive whole with all killer and no filler.
We all know that Meg And Dia have the the pop formula down and always mixed it with indie rock, folk, and even country. For example we all know that songs like Indiana and Monster had fairly aggressive indie rock elements and Love Is and I Will have Folk/Country influences.
On happysad Meg and Dia play to their strong suit and drop all the aggressive elements and amp up the pop and synths for an incredibly bubbly and catchy indie pop album. Songs like Koala and American Spirit are hardcore earworms and I remember humming and singing "will I lie to you?", from Koala, in public many times. Throughout happysad the drums and distorted guitars have been replaced with synths and clean electric guitar.
The greatest song and gift to long time fans would be the final song Dear Heart. On Dear Heart Meg and Dia smartly concludes the album with an acoustic song that harkens back to their older material. Meg plucking along on the guitar and Dia singing lovingly as always.
Meg And Dia really surprised me with Happysad, during their show they didn't promote this album or play any of these songs. After their set they spent a very long time greeting fans at their merch table, after that experience and listening to happysad I definitely got the feeling that Meg And Dia truly care about their fans and are incredibly diligent in their musical endeavors and I really do hope to hear more from them in the future.
