Romantic relationships are as common in my life as chicken pox; both have happened once, involved a lot of TV watching and too much board game playing. So whenever I listen to music that’s obviously about the pain of the “one” taking out your heart and using it for a doormat, I have to use a lot of imagination. I tend to think; man…I guess if Ryan Gosling tossed me aside I’d be able to write this too. That’s what my mind thought as Gosling was on Conan as I listened to Dear Ol’ Dad’s The Right Amount of Awkward. It was as if they’d just gotten dumped, listened to some Dashboard Confessional but turned to Deathcab as their musical muse.
The Right Amount of Awkward had a healthy dose of breaking up, growing up and masking the pain in musical formation. “Parking Lot” and “Line of Best Fit” were the obvious heartbreak tales, but I was kind of confused when it came to “Always Angry” because there was talk of nine months and I actually thought it was from a baby’s perspective…Stupid me, it was more likely how long the relationship went on. Growing up and moving on was found in “Happy Haunting.” It was the only track on the record that felt a little different in context, so that’s why it ended up being a favorite and one to definitely check out if you’re one of those album skimmers who just wants to know the “must listens” on the record.
All in all the lyrics were somber tales of this kid who just got his heart kicked, but at times the music told a different tale. Again “Always Angry” was clear about what it was about, but if you were to just hear the music, you’d think it was happier than it ends up being. “Glory Days” also wore a musical mask of chipper, hiding the opposite tone underneath.
Dear Ol’ Dad’s The Right Amount of Awkward is the right amount of indie and rock to suffice fans of either Freelance Whales or Annabel. Maybe one day I’ll have more than my imagination to go off of about the tribulations of the road to heartache, but until then I’ll continue to lean on bands like Dear Ol’ Dad for their take on the matter. The Right Amount of Awkward is out now, so check it out.
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