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How Dare You

Comfort Road (2008)
Fail Safe

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Contributed by: Bryne
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Published on January 27th 2009

Is it just me, or does Orlando suddenly have a thriving punk scene? I live an hour away, so while my finger isn't firmly on the pulse, it sure seems that way. Sure, New Mexican Disaster Squad was around forever, but with members of those bands forming Gatorface and Virgins, and other bands like Monikers and No Harm Done kicking around, the place where seemingly everyone is from somewhere else is beginning to make a lot of noise in the three-chord world. How Dare You look to add to that mystique with their debut Comfort Road, and despite the unbearable humidity, eyesore strip malls and unfortunately clueless tourists, they do so admirably.

Standout moments abound on Comfort Road, and the guys in How Dare You do a nice job of incorporating a lot of different influences into their sound while maintaining cohesiveness throughout. If you're into pigeonholing, though, I'd say these guys play a brand of melodic, mid-tempo punk rock.

Even though How Dare You are based a couple hours south, there's plenty of Gainesville in their sound. Whether it's the the tight rhythm section and raw vocals of "Scout's Honor," the huge anthemic nature of "Beacon St.," or the slightly rawer "Leaving Now OK...," it's apparent that Hot Water Music is a large influence. It's nothing we haven't heard before, but it's solid enough.

That's not to say Comfort Road is a one-trick pony; far from it. The solid riffs and dynamic drumming give "Cases and Carriers" a real melodic hardcore feel, and "The Bench" sees How Dare You crafting some of the bounciest post-hardcore I've heard in quite a while -- a strange phrase, I know, but it's true. And if you like huge, crunchy choruses, you'll find them here in spades; "Eat at Charlie's," "Hecker" and "My Last Stop on the T" all fit the bill.

If there's one minor complaint I can find with Comfort Road, it'd be the length of some of the songs. About half of the ten tracks here contain elongated outros that cause a handful of them to run past the four-minute mark without serving much of a purpose. Fortunately, the songs up to that point are so good it does little to stunt this record's momentum. How Dare You are definitely a band on the rise, and this record only solidifies their case.

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10feettall (June 21, 2010)

this band rules!

lansky420 (March 1, 2010)

This band is fucking awesome!

onegirlarmy (January 28, 2009)

Great band and great record. The first 5-6 songs are consistently getting stuck in my head.

lawrenceofthelabia (January 28, 2009)

I couldnt give it a 10 because I met the lead singer at their last show and he asked me if he could give me a reach-around. I told him I wasn't into dudes, but he was persistant. The album is great, but he uses his teeth to much when felating..

gabbagabbamike (January 28, 2009)

Awesome band. Got to see them with Gatorface and both bands were really great. Orlando represent - glad to see some No Harm Done love in there too.

nocigar (January 28, 2009)

really good stuff here.

pepperandonions (January 28, 2009)

Glad to see these guys getting press. They are fucking awesome live

sweetsuperior (January 28, 2009)

stoked on this band and stoked on all the positive comments so far!

Icapped2pac (January 28, 2009)

I echo mikexdude's sentiment about wishing I had discovered this earlier. I saw it on a friend's year-end list in the "bands that deserve more attention" section and checked out the songs on their myspace, which promptly led me to order the CD (novel idea, kids, try it). I finally got it a couple days ago and got about halfway through listening to it here at work when I remembered to check what new reviews were up. What a coincidence. Given what I've heard so far, this shit is great. I look forward to further listens. I think the review is pretty fair, too.

RocketFuel (January 28, 2009)

This album is awesome...definitely on my top 10 list for 2008. I just interviewed Justin from HDY for my podcast Rocket Fuel. They are a great band and he is a cool guy.

xshoutoutx (January 28, 2009)

THIS SHIT IS FUCKING FANTASTIC!

favorite find of '09 thus far... but that's because Supporting Caste hasn't made its way out yet!

mikexdude (January 28, 2009)

Alright, I'm upping my score -- this is really, really, good. I wish I heard more of this back in 08. Definitely would have made it on my list.

mikexdude (January 28, 2009)

I listened. There is some REALLY good stuff, and some okay stuff, nothing worse.

Solid.

mikexdude (January 28, 2009)

Brian says PBC and AFR? I am gonna have to check this out.

yeahdude (January 28, 2009)

Such a good band. stoked to see them at harvest of hope fest

inagreendase (January 27, 2009)

Most of the songs could be way better, but not bad stuff at all. It's like the almost-perfect mix between As Friends Rust and Polar Bear Club. "Beacon St.," however, fucking rules.