2010’s Dancing Is Depressing was a stone-cold DIY classic, one of the sharpest self-released rock albums of the past decade. It was sad (How do I know that I’m alive?), funny (Lady, I’m sorry, but you married a dick), and sad (When Jesus comes, I don’t care what the fucker’s gonna do). It would not have been surprising if the album was, as so often happens with independent bands like this one, the last thing Attic Abasement put out.
But no! Today, Attic Abasement shares the first taste of their long-awaited followup, Dream News, out May 27 via Father/Daughter Records, and available for pre-order now. Songwriter Mike Rheinheimer, who's been the band's center for a decade, attributes the wait to “a mixture of writer's block, substances, being in other bands, traveling, and normal life stuff,” but feels undaunted about the future. “Ten years into this, I don't see any reason to stop now,” he says. “It feels permanent. Music is still not a primary source of income, ha, so as long as it's fun, there will always be a reason for it.”
“Guarantee Jesus,” the new album’s lead single and opening track, is crisper than some of the old material—“light and fresh,” as Rheinheimer puts it. That's because Dream News was created with a full band in a studio, in contrast to the solo bedroom recording on Dancing and other early releases. “With a few exceptions, it used to be me on all the instruments, recorded and mixed on the fly with substandard equipment,” he says. “A very lengthy and tedious process, a time faucet, but worth it I think.” Thankfully, the greater refinement and focus that you hear here suits him just as well. Meet me at the scream at 2:15.
