Album Review: Dinosaur Pile-Up - I’ve Felt Better
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
This must feel like a cathartic moment for Dinosaur Pile-Up as they release their new album “I’ve Felt Better”. Even the title is symbolic and serves as a reminder to singer/guitarist Matt Bigland about the battles he’s faced, from isolation to vulnerability. That they are now here is a massive achievement, and they’ve set about it with great vigour.
The trio begin with “`Bout to Lose It” which releases five years of pent-up frustration, and they let loose from the beginning with a blistering opening to the song, and that scream says it all. “I guess I’m back on the edge” is the perfect line to start off with and they go from there, with rock songs full of melodies that with have their fans salivating. The title track, “I’ve Felt Better” already has that anthemic feel about it and is certain to be a crowd pleaser with its emotional lyrics.
“Punk Kiss” has that early 2000’s vibe to it, a song that I would have been in the pit moshing about as they played this song around 6pm on a sun-drenched main stage at The Reading Festival, back when it was a half decent weekender. They are demonstrating a certain energy and happiness so their music and this clearly comes from what has happened and this record is bringing that to life.
They show a different side to the band with the raucous “My Way” as it has a simple build up, and great drumming from Mike Sheils, then they let the words speak for themselves, which are poignant to the extreme. It’s a solid rock song, with Bigland commenting that he wrote it “because I’m gonna do what I want, when I want, my way” and after overcoming a life-threatening illness, you can understand why.
The whole album is full of vibrancy and transparency, I love “Big Dogs” and the ironic line of “big dogs eat for free” is dark humour at its best aimed right at celebrity culture. The riff is loud and proud, and the short song length give the song more gravitas. They slow it down a few notches at the start of “Big You And Me” with the bass from Jim Cratchley leading the song before they unleash the riff in the chorus.
The album covers a variety of themes and emotions, from exhaustion to empowerment, mental health to love, and the beauty of it lays at the door of the raw emotions that are pouring out. I enjoyed “Quasimodo Melonheart” just as much as “Sunflower” and the twelve songs zip through rapidly that you’ll need to play it a few times before you pick up on the meanings of several of the songs. The final track “I Don’t Love Nothing and Nothing Loves Me” will tug at a few hearts strings but is instantly relatable to lots of people who have felt similar at same stage in their life.
