Double Dagger Announce New EP

Double Dagger does not make "background music." The Baltimore trio's songs are meant to be experienced, rather than just listened to-either at one of their intense performances or with the volume turned up loud enough to feel it in your gut. Double Dagger embodies the contradictions of the fair-yet-blighted city they call home-visceral, raw, cacophonously loud, yet with unexpected moments of clarity, humor, and revelation. Live, Double Dagger's stripped-down musical line-up, consisting solely of bass, drums, and vocals, somehow manages to sound like a stage-full of musicians. Drummer Denny Bowen hammers the drums with such force that bassist Bruce Willen must employ four amps to match his volume. Singer Nolen Strals wades into, out of, and sometimes on top of the audience, channeling a dynamic energy that often has the three musicians dripping with sweat by the second song.

While this description is generally apt, Double Dagger continues to push the boundaries of what some critics have dubbed agit punk, angry pop, art punk, art rock, DIY, future shock, genre bending, genre defying, grunge, hardcore, heavy metal, In Utero-era noise, indie, indie rock, left field rock-n-roll, math-rock, metal, metallic funk, minimalist punk, minimalism, no wave, noise, noisy pop, political pop, political punk, pop punk, pop/punk, post-grunge, post-hardcore, post-pop, postpunk, post-punk, post-rock, punk rock in the purist form, punk, quasi-punk, rock, thrash, unclassifiable, or underground music.

Double Dagger's new EP, Masks, continues in this vein, taking up where their acclaimed 2009 full length, More, left off. Masks presents a series of vignettes, ranging from acerbic to facetious to self-reflective, on the facades we build within our lives. Masks contains some of Double Dagger's most catchy songs to date, yet characteristically the tone of the album encompasses the abrasive and sarcastic as well as the upbeat and closes with a surprisingly delicate instrumental. The EP was recorded by the band using a necessarily DIY setup, and like More, manages to capture the loudness and energy of Double Dagger's explosive live performances.
The Masks CD and LP both feature limited edition packaging designed by Strals and Willen's design studio Post Typography. The LP and CD each come in three different covers, all with custom die-cut jackets printed as different mask drawings with "eyes" that change color depending on the orientation of the CD or LP sleeve.


Track List:

1. Imitation Is The Most Boring Form Of Flattery
2. Pillow Talk
3. Sheep In Wolf's Clothing
4. Sleeping With The TV On
5. Song For S