Photo by Gordon Phillips

“What would it sound like if you crammed together Beck and Blur? What if you combine the Chemical Brothers with Bob Mould?,” were the questions rolling through James Goodson’s head when he wrote the latest dazy track, “IT’S ONLY A SECRET (if you repeat it)”. The first preview and title track from your favorite hardcore band’s favorite power-pop punk songwriter’s new EP does all those mashups justice. I read that after the fact I had already overdosed on the listen during a quintessential autumn afternoon walk — the kind where a song becomes the soundtrack to making peak foliage extra vivid this time of year — and found that pretty close to what was bleeding through these senses. Extra wavy acoustic power chords, the radiation vibrations of rippling keys, and baggy drumbeat suggested an early Fountains of Wayne-gone-hardcore pop formula executed flawlessly, and punctuated by a guest spot from the shout raps of one Deedee of kindred scene adjacencies, MSPAINT, to push its freak factor over the edge. It bares repeating that there’s a reason why dazy has become everyone’s favorite secret.

dazy’s IT’S ONLY A SECRET (if you repeat it) will be released October 25th on Lame-O Records.