Dance Gavin Dance's albums are stellar and some of my favourites of all times, but their very small selection of non-album singles have some great tunes as well. Summertime Gladness, a post-Mothership release, is one of their best tunes in general, and a super fun one to play.
This song is unbelievably funky, and it's the best thing about this song by far. The moment the song starts, it's pure funk with those chords and rhythmic choices, and the swancore licks lean into it as well. Between Tilian's sweet cleans, Jon's strong screams and Will's tasteful guitarwork, the verse continues to carry the torch of funkiness. The pre-chorus has some beautiful guitar layers as well, underneath the cleans.
The chorus is fun, I'm loving the grit on the cleans, I'm loving whatever pedal effects got thrown on the lead guitar, I'm loving the vocal melodies and lyricism. The second half sees Jon coming in to throw an absolutely hilarious line on as well, "kiss my, kiss your ass goodbye", and I think Will's even backing that line far back in the mix.
The second verse plays out similarly to the first verse, and so does the second chorus, although they made it a lot longer. I am absolutely in love with the sax solo they threw on over the chorus all the way to the outro, maximum funk has been reached, no doubt. I also the love the way the outro somehow reminds me of a 'riding into the sunset' scenario but with that quirky Dance Gavin Dance vibe rolled into it.
Summertime Gladness is forever a bop, and when it comes to funky, one of the best cuts they have to offer in their entire nearly 2 decades of music. Catch me absolutely moving my body if this song ever comes up, because if this plays and you ain't moving, you ain't living.
Rating: 4/5