Dag Nasty
Minority Of One
Revelation
Well, well, well… Dag Nasty have, in fact, reformed and have delivered a highly anticipated full length, after 10 long years! Where’s former Ink 19 writer Nathan Birk (a die hard Dag Nasty lover) when you need him? Oh well, while Nathan pens things for Metal Maniacs magazine, I’ll cover him for this one. Most everybody (with any semblance musical taste) over the age of 20 knows Dag Nasty, and knows them well; they released one of the most widely hailed melodic post punk records ever, 1986’s Can I Say. You younger fans out there will have to give it a listen sometime; you may think it sounds dated, but you should at least hear it before you die, in the same way you should see the Mona Lisa before you die.
So anyway, when Nathan and I were teenagers in Toledo, OH, he always used to hound me, telling me that Dag Nasty was the greatest band, blah blah blah. I never caught on, and I kind of regret it; Can I Say is fantastic! Minority Of One, Dag Nasty’s latest release, some 16 years later and on the Revelation label, is well done, but not masterful.
The band here is an all star cast of sorts, featuring Brian Baker, Dave Smalley, Roger Marbury, and Collin Sears. Let’s just go on record here as saying that Minority Of One is head over heels better than anything ever done by Bad Religion (Baker’s “other” band) or Down By Law (Smalley’s other singing job)… no kidding around here! These guys are thirty-something punks and they rock out full force, creating a fantastic sound not even challenged by Bad Religion or Down By Law. I guess the question then is what could this band have done if they hadn’t broken up in ‘88? (side note: Dag Nasty released several other full lengths, but Can I Say is their premiere LP)
Minority Of One would best be enjoyed, today, by fans of Samiam, Bad Religion, Face To Face, and other meldoic post punk bands of similar style. That’s essentially the variation of music featured here. The music isn’t groundbreaking, but it rocks out with sincerity and emotion, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for the majority of bands in this genre. My favorite tracks here would be the awkwardly mathematical rocker, “Average Man,” the unforgivingly pounding “Bottle This,” and the beautifully orchestrated “Broken Days.”
Dag Nasty is one of those curious bands that peaked with their first release; the only misnomer about that is that the band broke up in the middle of what could have been their prime. Minority Of One is very well and emotionally strong, and captures a bunch of talented friends who have reconnected, all in the name of rock; what could be more beautiful than that?
Dag Nasty: http://www.daghouse.com
