Show Me The Blueprints is the latest album to be released by folk-punk band Days N Daze, showing the band in a slightly different light than usual.
By Jane Howkins
Days N Daze have always been an independent punk band, with the American band being a big part of the DIY punk scene. On Show Me The Blueprints, the band have actually decided to record the album with Fat Wreck Chords, showing an interesting move for them. Whilst FWC are still considered to be an independent label, this move may concern some fans of the band. However, we’re happy to say that the ethos of Days N Daze seem to largely have stayed the same and the music is still just as good, so there isn’t too much for fans to worry about in this regard. Something that we did notice was that you can feel the influence of Fat Mike (frontman of the band NoFx, who also runs FWC) running throughout the album – it’s not too overt, but the brass in the beginning of My Darling Dopamine really reminded us of a NoFx song.
One thing we found interesting was that the production quality on SMTB doesn’t sound as clean as you might expect from an album on such a label, however it still has that DIY sound and feel to it. This might sound blasphemous to the diehard punks out there, but we actually felt like the production could have done to be a little bit cleaner at times, but on the other hand, older fans should be pleased by this.
In terms of the music itself, fans should know what to expect from the band by now. Most of the tracks here are fairly similar to their previous incarnations, both in terms of sound and subject matter. It’s typical folk-punk music, and fans of the genre should find much to love here. The subject matter is endearingly political, with many interesting themes found to be contained within the lyrics. Addiction and mental health issues seem to the main topics, and the depth into which Days N Daze discuss such topics within their tracks is immense – it feels like they’re going even deeper than ever before.
Show Me The Blueprints is another great album from Days N Daze, and fans of the band and this style of music should love it. There’s absolutely nothing to be concerned about the band releasing their latest album through a label, and hopefully it should give them more scope to improve themselves as artists in the future.