It is far too easy for so many bands to sit in a studio for weeks and months, perfecting each chord and note. The Dangerous Summer is not one of these bands. They more than pass the “live” test on their new EP Live In Baltimore, the location selected to honor the band’s home state of Maryland. The six tracks the new EP features are unmistakably Reach For The Sun favorites but sound better than any studio recording.
AJ Perdomo welcomes you to Live In Baltimore with “Where I Want To Be.” The EP’s track listing honors the studio album’s order but the richness of Perdomo’s voice changes the songs’ dynamics. Meanwhile, the interlude shakes with rounded, energized drumming from Tyler Minsberg that breathes new urgency into the song. Also more moving live, “Weathered” spikes with fortified drumming and a crisp second guitar that is easily ignored on the studio version. The soft echo of the crowd pads this raw energy on “Weathered” and through “Symmetry.”
Perdomo’s voice is perfectly on pitch but has an extra vigor of temporal relevance that doesn’t seem absent on Reach For The Sun until you hear it live, whether personally or on Live In Baltimore. The chorus of “Surfaced” is breathy with emotion, supported by Cody Payne and Bryan Czap’s sweeping guitars. “Northern Lights” seems much more a prayer and declaration than ballad, aided by exceptional guitar and audible pain in Perdomo’s voice hanging above the crowd’s muffled calls.
The EP closes out with “Never Feel Alone,” another musically shockingly strong track. Perdomo’s disbelief vibrates in each chorus, but key moments of the song are in the last refrains: The simple, crashing guitar parts take off above pounding drums, supporting the raw ascending vocals. After the song, Perdomo promises the crowd, “We are The Dangerous Summer, and we will be back.” Let’s all hope, and let’s all believe them. Because given a band with the strong musicianship of The Dangerous Summer, live recordings will beat out studio every time.
The Dangerous Summer has been touring and will continue to be on the road through the end of August, so spin this EP to check them out live, and then go hear them if you can.
****.5/*****
*This review was composed by Emily Coch
