SONG REVIEW: Dinosaurs In Paris - “What’s Today?”
By Jesse James Smith
Claiming ‘Easycore’ from Pennsylvania, Dinosaurs In Paris is more than just easycore. When I think of easycore, I think of Chunk No Captain Chunk & really early ADTR. Basically, Pop Punk with breakdowns. Dinosaurs In Paris while being a bit soft for metalcore and metal, They have all of the boxes checked for modern metalcore / active rock. Now that I have gotten that out of the way, ‘DIP’ have released a new track titled “What’s Today?” and it absolutely blew me away. I have heard this band making buzz around the PA music scene and have seen their name on quite a few show flyers. Releasing their first single in 2022, It’s clear the band is hitting the ground running. Even though I have seen their name two handfuls of times, I never checked them out… until now.
‘What’s Today?’ starts off beautiful and melodic with a really nice clean guitar intro. Starting with a slow burn sets the tone for the rest of the song and with such a musical intro it grabs your attention because it’s so nice to listen to. It takes 35 seconds for the song to kick into high gear but when it does it comes in strong. The energy from this moment on is absolutely insane. The band is super tight together and makes the flow of the song easy to bob your head to but out of nowhere there is a guitar that is SHREDDING for only a couple seconds. It’s settled just in the back of the mix enough for you to hear it so clearly, but also not enough for it to disrupt the vibe as well as the vocals. It was so unexpected that I had to rewind the song to hear it again. But unexpected is what I found so endearing about this song! The chorus is up beat with the drummer playing a very bright and upbeat rhythm while still remaining to tie into the heavier nature of the song. Speaking of heavier, the band shows that they can get down and have a couple of drops in the song that fulfills the need for something heavy in my heart. Start to finish, this song straps you into the rollercoaster and every second its something different but you enjoy every second.
The main selling point to me were the vocals. Other than the guitars and how they were arranged, the vocals are the main reason I went on that easycore rant in the beginning. This man is effortlessly running circles around many of the top vocalists of today in the active rock realm. It’s almost killswitch engage-y but with a little more soul behind it. He has the perfect voice for octane radio and it threw me off guard when I first heard it. I got to the end of the song and really was bummed that I never checked these guys out before. They are super talented and this song in particular will make a fan out of anyone who listens.
This is why it’s important to support your local music scenes. Yes, many of the bands will not be too good… but there are some that could really blow you away but never had the chance.