In the rock world there seem to be a number of fairly set styles toward which bands gravitate, depending on their influences. But it’s nice when a group carves out a distinctive mixture of influences, though perhaps from familiar ingredients. This week, we have a worthwhile new album by a band that does just that. It’s the new eponymous release by the South Carolina band Dangermuffin.

Dangermuffin the album is the band’s seventh release since 2007, counting an EP, and it’s their first since 2017. It spotlights the band’s interesting blend of jam band influence, hints of reggae, folk undercurrents, and a smattering of art rock with their occasionally rhythmically complex compositions, and sometimes tripped out lyrics. They combine that with a good melodic sense and appealing vocals, and you end up with a minor gem of an album.

The group consists of Dan Lotti on lead vocals, guitar, bass and lyrics; Mike Stivelli on guitar and co-lyricist; Andrew Hendryx on electric mandolin and Steven Sandifer on drums and backing vocals. They recorded the album in a studio in Ashville. North Carolina that used to be a church, and that sort of spaciousness and reverence seems to seep into the group’s music.

The 10-song 44-minute album opens with a piece called We Push Mountains. The track combines a jam-band feel with a tuneful quality, though with somewhat inscrutable and occasionally difficult to make out lyrics. <<>>

The band’s reggae influence comes out on the track called Omaha. It’s nicely done with a kind of spacey quality to the guitars, as the lyrics seem to be about a socially awkward relationship. <<>>

New Sol features an African-influenced 6/8 rhythmic figure, while the lyrics are said to be about a “search for discovery.” <<>>

One of the highlights of the album is a piece called Icarus which was released as the first single. It’s another appealing track that is both tuneful and musically interesting. <<>>

Another of the album’s strongest tracks is I Will Never Forget perhaps its most straight out love song. <<>>

One of the most musically interesting pieces on the album is These Golden Chains in which the band ventures onto progressive rock territory with its tricky rhythm, but with also some guitar jamming. <<>>

Perhaps the album’s crowning track is one called Luminous Teacher with a creative atmospheric sound, and cryptic lyrics that fit the mood of the song well. <<>>

The album ends with another sunny reggae influenced song, The Golden Age, again showing the band’s versatility. <<>>

Dangermuffin the new seventh album by the South Carolina band of the same name is a first rate musical amalgam that brings together rock, bits of folk undercurrent, reggae, jam band, and progressive rock. One can hear influence from groups like String Cheese Incident, with the mandolin in the group, The Elovators for their reggae influence and Midlake for the progressive rock and atmospheric qualities. It’s all nicely done with nothing of what I would call filler material on the album.

Our grade for sound quality is about B-plus. The mix skillfully uses ambiance effects, but sometimes it’s hard to make out the lyrics on Dan Lotti’s vocals. And the dynamic range is less than optimal, with volume compression squashing out some of the ebb and flow of the music.

Dangermuffin tours mainly in the Southeast, around the Carolinas, but their music is national class, with their recordings having received nearly 100 million streams worldwide. Their new album is probably their best yet and a nice example of how bringing some eclecticism into a rock band setting can pay off artistically.

(c) Copyright 2024 George D. Graham. All rights reserved.
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<<>> indicates audio excerpt played in produced radio review

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