F*ck You, Don’t Try to Disbelieve The Dillinger Escape Plan’s “Trancer”

As I write this, I’m sitting here listening to The Dillinger Escape Plan’s new single, “Prancer,” for the fourth time in a row. I like it more and more with each successive listen, which isn’t surprising, ’cause I could describe most DEP material that way.

What is kinda surprising — although by no means bad — is that the song almost completely lacks the more melodious turns which have marked most of the band’s singles in the Puciato era. There are no Faith No More or Nine Inch Nails comparisons to be made here; I kept thinking the song’s second half would be more easily palatable, the way the second half of “Farewell, Mona Lisa” is, but nope. There’s a small section in the middle that’s kinda pretty but otherwise this is just a full-on kick square to the nuts. It may not be as schizophrenic as “43% Burnt,” but radio friendly it ain’t.

Which I think is commendable! Dillinger have reached a new plateau of success over the past five or six years, and “Prancer” indicates a desire to use that goodwill to bring their expanded audience deeper down the mathcore hole with them — not to climb out of that hole to meet the audience. It’s the exact opposite of what most bands do — get a little taste of the big time and start watering down your sound to make sure you stay there.

http://youtu.be/n7vPMKObsjA

You can purchase the “Prancer” single here. The song will appear on The Dillinger Escape Plan’s new album, One of Us is a Killer, which comes out May 14 on Sumerian. The band kicks off a tour with The Faceless and Royal Thunder in April; get dates here.