John Vanderslice – SF Weekly Interview/Album Review

John Vanderslice‘s newest album Dagger Beach peaked at #34 on the CMJ charts last week. In his interview with SF Weekly, he talks about how leaving his label Dead Oceans allowed him to create a record that “gave up altogether on choruses, bridges, and pop song structures”, claiming that making music “had to feel risky again.” Vanderslice did just that – from self-releasing the album on his Tiny Telephone label to traveling the country on his Living Room Tour. Recorded on 2-inch analog tape, the album is “full of the unnammable sounds and subtle distortions you’d expect of someone who owns one of the city’s best recording studios”, giving it an individual sound. Maybe most unique about Dagger Beach is the fact that there are “no choruses or hooks anywhere, and the order of the songs defies any easily satisfying pattern. It flows from one linear story-song to the next.” His deeply intimate lyrics tell the story of his journey to get his life back together after his divorce, and each track is a unique story “worth getting your head around”. Lyrical standouts include ‘Harlequin Press’ and ‘How the West Was Won.'” A “few others, like the quietly raging ‘Sleep It Off’ and the closing ‘North Coast Rep,’ rank among his best.” Read the full interview and album review with SF Weekly here and show your support for Dagger Beach this week.