Danello, The Sad Surfer - Danello, The Sad Surfer II
On Danello, The Sad Surfer, the album cover is the titular artist's depiction of a man falling off a surfboard. It's crude, it gets the point across, but it's beautiful. I love the way that the short red brushstrokes create a sun that's not just one blob against a creamy sky, the long brushstrokes various colors of the ocean. Nothing's just one thing and there's plenty of negative space. It's not even a scan, it's a photo of the painting. It's charmingly human. On Danello, The Sad Surfer II, the album cover is a grainy photograph of Dan staring directly at the camera. He's sitting at his dinner table. The picture is color-corrected to look like a blued photo from the 80s that's been exposed to the sun. A thin border of white space frames a full, desaturated, fuzzy picture. The new aesthetic draped over everything, obscuring a man who is looking right at us, as if to say something, but you can't quite make it out through the distorted picture.
What is he saying on Danello, The Sad Surfer II? He's saying that he's in pain. None of the songs on any of the Danello records are happy songs. On "DR, PLEASE", he begs for chemical release from overthinking, lack of focus, and all the things that make him different from other people. On "GASOLINE", he takes the pose of a jaded, possessive partner who wants to metaphorically burn down his life with his lover inside of it. On "I CANNOT TAKE THIS ANYMORE", he ends every chorus with "why don't you all just hang me by a noose". He's all but thrown out Surfer, he's just Danello the Sad.
Danello, The Sad Surfer II is a hard pivot from the Beach Boys-worship of his previous work. Acoustic guitars and vocal harmonies are no longer the central driving force of the songs. Instead, this is a synth-led 80s pop pastiche. Opener "VAPID" shows us what it's got with gunshot snares, flangers to spare, and an emotional pop lead vocal. The arpeggiated chords and export reggae drums "I CANNOT TAKE THIS ANYMORE" almost sound like "Rude" by Magic! (that's a complement). Dan retains his knack for slippery chord changes and tasty turnarounds, and despite the deeply depressed lyrics, the instrumental choices and chord progressions remain whimsical. "NEW FUNKY MODE" sounds like a Mario level, an instrumental jam band track that happens to have hard-panned pentatonic synth harmonies and big Hai-YAHs. "EXCUSE" is a great example of the goofy pop lines you might find on this record ("sitting in a daze/let the hazy maze carve up my brain/it's smoother than a new ba-babe/it's spotless, it's free"). It has Donkey Kong Country sound effects in it, for crying out loud.
Unfortunately, too many of the songs are more like sketches, in-progress versions of better songs. The lyrics can tend towards dense, Barenaked Ladies word salad at times. A little human touch is missed as the quantized drum machines gnash against the un-quantized vocals and keys, particularly on "DR, PLEASE" and "EXCUSE". I'm not anti-synthpop, nor am I necessarily against Danello coming back to this sound in the future, but I can't help but feel like there's a better version of this album that's more consistent with the surf rock singer-songwriter stuff he had written before (and after) this album. Also, I'm a little sad that despite having 2 bonus tracks on the last album, there are none on this one.
I joined Danello, The Sad Surfer on a part-time basis in 2024, playing shows in Philly, New York, and various little holes and basements in New Jersey over the past two years. I've quit and rejoined the band something like six times. Before that, Dan and I were in an emo band called Goalie Fight. I don't perform on this record, and I think I have a few songwriting credits and one feature on the next record. The split EP between Danello and Possum In My Room was recorded in my basement. I have fond memories of playing this album live, but the Danello songs that stick in my head the most are his new ones. "Kingpin", "Skimboard", and "Outlaw" are probably his best work.
"unnamed ballad" is my favorite song on Danello, the Sad Surfer II. It's the best sounding song, it has the best lyrics, it has the best melodies, and it's the most fun to play. Despite this one not even having a proper title, it's the most complete-feeling song on the album. It describes the fracturing of a partnership, two people who gradually grow apart from each other. "Maybe I should keep it holding on/maybe I'm the one who's in the wrong/maybe I should reach out one more time/maybe I'm afraid to let things die". It's a feeling that I've felt over and over, and not one that I've seen articulated this perfectly. The lyrics, like all the best pop lyrics, show rather than tell. The moody, Catholic organ is melancholy and the guitars are washy and cold in the best way. Everything breathes. His aim is focused. Songs like these are what make me excited to see what Dan has next.