Experimental, jazzy math-rock outfit Dumb Waiter is holding a launch party for their second studio album, Cancel Christmas this Friday at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery.
Cancel Christmas has been in the making since last January and is a long-awaited followup to the four-piece band’s debut album, Is This Chocolate? released in 2013.
“Is This Chocolate? was us trying to find our sound and it was a little more bouncier and a little more playful,” guitarist Nicholas Crider said. “I feel like our new material is a lot closer to the true sound we are trying to accomplish; we definitely get a lot heavier with this album.”
Like their debut album, Cancel Christmas was recorded with producer/engineer Dave Watkins at Gallery5. Crider told RVA Mag last year that the band recorded the new album in January 2014 and the new material took about three years to write and then another year and a half to record.
The group, who formed in 2012, gave us a live taste of the album in December via an Audiotree session which you can check out below.
Dumb Waiter’s unique sonic style is derived from a plethora of genres including everything from jazz to heavy metal and up to this point has been entirely lyricless.
“We are try to replace the traditional way of vocals/lyrics with instrumentation,” Crider said. “If we can portray someone saying ‘I love you’ with a pretty riff that portrays that feeling it means the same thing.”
This upcoming album, though, will feature two guest singers: Andy Horn of death metal band Battlemaster and folk singer Andrew Ali. The fact that these two singers draw from two incredibly dissimilar genres is exactly in the spirit of what Dumb Waiter is: a diverse mashup of genre. And each time they manage to churn out material that’s amazing and different, a rare trait in this town.
Besides Crider on the guitar, the band is rounded out by Nathaniel Roseberry on the drums, Keith Paul on bass, and Tristan Brennis, who is a straight up maniac on the saxophone.
Dumb Waiter’s sounds of prog-rock, jazz and metal blend together so perfectly and combined with their crazy antics in their videos, makes them an act not to miss.
Those wild and wacky antics can be seen in their videos “Vegan Mustache Jazz”, complete with colorful masks and silly dance moves, as well as “Wet Brain Boy” which shows the Easter Bunny on what seems to be a failed trek to spread holiday cheer.
Their unique way of standing out among all the other acts in town even bleeds into their live performances in which the band members have been known to dress as grandmas, bearded ladies, and hair metal dudes.
It leaves a bit of curiosity and suspense leading up their to album release party this weekend.
Opening for Dumb Waiter at their upcoming show is the energetic noise rock outfit Navi. Navi broke up over a year ago and are making a mysterious comeback for the album launch. Is it a one time thing? I wouldn’t take the chance of missing it.
Dumb Waiter will play their new album, Cancel Christmas start to finish, with many of the songs being played live for the first time. The band will also perform a new, never heard song that is not on the album.
Although they will release physical copies of the record on Friday, Dumb Waiter will release Cancel Christmas online on May 24 via Hand to Mouth Tapes and JUJU.
Following their show Friday, Dumb Waiter will embark on an East Cost tour with dates in Norfolk, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and DC so make sure you catch them this weekend.
Dumb Waiter will perform and release their new album, Cancel Christmas, this Friday April 29th at Hardywood with special guest Navi. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the doors. You can buy yours here.
