COVID-19 has affected us all in a myriad of ways, big and small, expected and unexpected. Each of us is dealing with it differently, largely determined by our material circumstances, but the one truly unifying aspect of this pandemic is how isolating it’s been. We’re all bound to our domiciles, our only human interactions being the ones that our jobs force us into. People have taken that time alone and have done their best to better themselves in one way or another. Some started working out again, we at GSC kicked our blog into high gear, and many of the musicians we cover found themselves particularly inspired with nothing but time to write and malaise to write about.
Dizzy Bats’ Connor Frost knew that feeling all too well, having lived by himself and been working for himself long before the pandemic hit, leaving him with plenty of time in solitude. On one of those quiet lonely evenings he started to feel a song pouring out of him. He had a chord progression in mind and started to build off of it. Once he had the melody for the verse, the rest of the song kind of wrote itself. That song “Alone” was released today and serves as his band’s triumphant return to the spotlight, last having released music with their 2017 EP I Don’t Live Here Anymore. As you might have been able to put together, Connor sings about the often maddening isolation a one bedroom apartment can leave you with. The track starts off just with Connor and a massive pulsating riff, letting the drums come in next with the rest of the gang joining in lockstep before the melodic though downtrodden chorus. He laments the people in his life he was hoping would be there but sadly aren’t, asking when he’ll finally be happy. It’s a reminder of how much of an effort it can be to make sure we maintain close contact with the people we love, but how fully worthwhile it is. It’s a ripper of a single and a good deal more up beat than the subject matter might suggest, feeling like maybe three parts Remo Drive and one part Alkaline Trio. I also absolutely love the animated video the band dropped to go with the single, following an adorable but dreadfully lonely ghost, searching every corner of the underworld for a friend. Aranza Torres’ animations on the music video are simple but vivacious despite the video’s undead subject matter, it perfectly matches the tenor of the track and couldn’t be cuter.
“Alone” is the lead off single for Dizzy Bats’ upcoming album which will be the group’s first since 2014’s Girls. The band hilariously described the record as a “long time coming of age” album, as the group deals with the anxieties resulting from going through their quarter-life crises while the country descends into chaos. If the rest of the album shreds like “Alone” I think we’re in for a treat.
Check out Dizzy Bats on twitter and insta, listen to Alone on Spotify and Apple Music, and be on the lookout on their BandCamp for their upcoming album!
