Tim Feerick, DGD Bassist, Dead At 34

Longtime bassist for Dance Gavin Dance, Tim Feerick, has unexpectedly passed away. He was 34.

The musician’s death was confirmed by the band earlier Thursday, announcing his passing happened sometime Wednesday night. In a statement about his passing, DGD wrote:

“We are absolutely devastated to share the news that our friend and bass player, Tim Feerick, passed away last night. We ask that you respect our privacy and that of Tim’s family while we deal with this heartbreaking and untimely loss. We will share further updates on Swanfest and our upcoming touring schedule as soon as we have them.”

Feerick joined DGD back in 2009, replacing the band’s second bassist Jason Ellis who joined the year before. He then left the group in 2010 and would rejoin two years later. His debut with the band was 2013’s Acceptance Speech, which also featured the band’s third lead vocalist, Tilian Pearson. During his tenure with DGD, he appeared on six albums, with his final release with the group coming out later this year on Rise Records (blessthefall, Mayday Parade, Spite).

Several musicians wrote messages about Feerick. Former DGD/Emarosa/Rain City Drive frontman Jonny Craig posted in his Instagram story:

“I remember the first time i knew who Tim was i felt like he didn’t like me everytime I went into tower records.. fast forward years later and he joined the band far after I was gone but we were always friends and this past month we have been speaking NON stop and we were gonna link after this upcoming tour to make some kid laroi type music. reading that just broke me into tears. I hate this shit and I don’t understand why I’m here at all cause he deserved to be here. He just recorded hella Fts for me last month. my thoughts go out to the dudes in Dgd and his family.”

DGD’s longtime producer Kris Crummett (In Fear And Faith, Rain City Drive, Stolas) shared a heartfelt tribute on his Instagram, saying:

“You were such an amazing bassist, fellow gear nerd and a great person to be around and bounce ideas off of. The kind of guy who randomly buys Beach Boys concert tickets for both us in the middle of a recording session without even telling me. I’m heartbroken. But it’s hard not to smile just a little bit when thinking about you.

Rest In Peace Tim.”

Fellow post-hardcore band Hail The Sun shared on their Instagram Stories, “Several years ago, when we mentioned to Tim that we were doing an Elephantitis vinyl, he gave us the idea to do an alternate cover version as well. His creativity and genuine interest in art outside of his own will be forever missed.”

“I love you, Tim. I regret not telling you more often. Your life brought me so much humor and joy. You made an impact on those around you, and your musical legacy will live on beyond any of us,” wrote DGD frontman Tilian Pearson while he shared some images of the bassist on Instagram.

Rest easy, Tim. We love you.

Lower Definition Are Making A New Album

Underrated post-hardcore band Lower Definition are making new music.

The San Diego quintet announced the news on Tuesday by sharing a post made by guitarist Eddy Marshburn. In it Marshburn wrote, “It’s incredible how different it is going through this process in 2019 and 2020 vs 2006. We’ve exchanged thousands of texts and emails, conference calls, hundreds of demos, shit and gold, and now to experience these songs tangibly in an inspiring environment is amazing. Something I think I certainly took for granted.”

Check out the full announcement below.

This upcoming third album marks the band’s first release since their 2011 EP The Infinite Et Cetera and is the follow-up to their sophomore album The Greatest of All Lost Arts released back in 2008 on now-defunct label Ferret Records (blessthefall, Foxy Shazam, Poison The Well).

Lower Definition formed in 2002 and originally broke up in 2009 after drummer Valentino Arteaga and bassist Stefan Tole quit the band. They reformed later that same year when vocalist Matt Geise and Marshburn recruited rhythm guitarist Willie Caldwell, drummer Korey Severson, and bassist Michael McCullough. There was a period of inactivity throughout the 2010s, but in 2018, they announced a 10 year anniversary show for The Greatest Of All Lost Arts featuring all the original members during the recording process and rhythm guitarist Mark Luciano who left in 2007.

The band have toured with Dance Gavin Dance, Jamie’s Elsewhere, In Fear And Faith, A Skylit Drive, and Gwen Stacy.

PUP Cover Classic Grandaddy Track

PUP’s repping the classics, man.

The Canadian punk rock quartet posted their rendition of the beloved Grandaddy classic “A.M. 180”. You can hear their cover, as well as the original, below.

In a press release, drummer Zack Mykula said, “Grandaddy are one of the unsung hero bands of indie rock. A best kept secret. I mean, forgive me for going ham, but this song is like a lily in an otherwise barren valley. An outstanding piece of songwriting, doing more with less than most any other song of the same caliber. So, that’s why we decided to cover it.”

“A.M. 180” first came out on Grandaddy’s debut album Under The Western Freeway back in 1997 on Will Records and reissued in 1998 on V2 Records (Alice Merton, Mumford & Sons, Tusky). It appeared in various movies and shows like 28 Days Later, Eddsworld, and Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe.

PUP’s cover is available now on Rise Records (blessthefall, Fire From The Gods, Jetty Bones).

The Amity Affliction Improve On Past Mistakes On “Everyone Loves You… Once You Leave Them”

Let’s face it, Misery was shit.

Sounding like a mish-mash of Memphis May Fire and Beartooth meets Imagine Dragons and Bring Me The Horizon, The Amity Affliction’s sixth album raised the brows of several fans, praying they weren’t going for the same pie that BMTH were after. It was too pop for metal fans and too metal for pop fans. Simply put, the band face planted hard and fans were worried that they would never recover.

Let me rest assure you that they did recover.

On Everyone Loves You… Once You Leave Them, the band are still on their pop-metal vibes, but they turned it down a notch and pumped up the heaviness. They finally found the perfect balance. So yes, Everyone Loves You… > Misery.

Recruiting Misery producer Matt Squire (All Time Low, Underoath, The Wild & Free,) the Australian metalcore quartet try and correct their errors by making a record that’s actually presentable. The Amity Affliction sing about suicide, drug abuse, bipolar disorder, death, and sadness, while teetering between pop rock and metalcore.

Immediately you can tell that things sound a whole lot better with the nearly two minute long intro “Coffin.” The track reminds me of killer intros like Asking Alexandria’s “Alerion” and blessthefall’s “2.0.” Everyone Loves You… Once You Leave Them continues the heavy streak with tracks like “Forever,” “All My Friends Are Dead,” and the album’s closing number “Catatonia.”

But there are some songs that throw the heaviness off-kilter like “Aloneliness,” a track that deals with bipolar depression that gets mixed up in the poppiness, “Fever Dream,” which feels like a discount Linkin Park song, and “Just Like Me,” the heaviest song Imagine Dragons ever made. And that fucking chorus, and the whistling, the whistling. 

Overall, Everyone Loves You… Once You Leave Them bounces around the place, being good one moment and subpar the next. For a band that used to create fantastic metalcore albums, Everyone Loves You… makes you long for the old days.