Dynamic, untethered hard rock

Dead Sara brewed its musical style and flare within Los Angeles, forgoing certain archetypal sounds to make their own flavor. Beginning with their eponymous album Dead Sara and evolving over the years, their newest creation, Ain’t It Tragic, is a newer batch of hard rock.

“All Eye Know Is That You Left Me For Dead” highlights a few key components of this group’s dynamic. Singer Emily Armstrong’s intense and pressured vocals shine bright and bleed throughout the track. Behind it all is Siouxsie Medley’s breaching guitar riffs, cracking ever so slightly into the melody of the song. But Sean Friday’s drumming is commanding, tying these two furious powers into melodic harmony. “Gimmie Gimmie” follows this track in a similar style, adding a bit more dynamic movement to the layout with more prominent riffs from Medley. The muted bridge towards the end is right out of turn-of-the-century hard rock, polishing the song to a gem.

With a bit more alternative style mixed in, “Good Times” builds itself to a thumping beat and crescendos into Armstrong’s infamous vocals and Medley’s hammering guitar. The continued dynamism of their tracks is shown here—it keeps you engaged and listening or might force you to crank the volume knob.

With a stadium-like sound, “Hands Up” is tailored for an audience. It winds up to the chorus and breaches in a stadium-rock style, then quickly drops into the abyssal verses once more. Though, it seems less likely to catch the voices of a large audience, much rather the listener on their way to work. “Heroes” seems to mold into a top hit format as well as echoing vocals and electro-beats rounding out the track. This track might be a success for the group, but it feels stilted.

“Losing My Mind” slows their beat down a bit as Friday taps Armstrong’s vocals to a more melancholic tune. It is more alt-rock, but with a more suspenseful aura. In a more playful tune is “Hypnotic,” an energetic track with endless rhyming. Armstong’s lyrics are almost rap-like—they bounce off and build upon one another in sync with Friday’s drumming.

Ain’t It Tragic is an amalgamation of Dead Sara’s past and present. It tips its cap to their future, but it shows courage to continue creating despite their lack of success. Most of this album seems to ring true to their style and perseverance as a band, it just needs the right audience.