Slingshot Dakota – Break
- Written by Ashley Stein
Slingshot Dakota are an indie rock band from Bethlehem PA. With their roots lying in the punk and hardcore basement scene of their home town, their sound is refreshingly different and quite unique from what they have been influenced by.
The album's uplifting yet down beat mood is coordinated perfectly by front woman Carly Comando’s pop-punk voice entwining beautifully with the intense sounds that she extracts from her digital piano. Combined with drummer Tom Patterson’s perfectly timed beats, Slingshot Dakota create a huge, full-band sound that comes across so well on their new record, Break.
The band’s first album, Dark Hearts, dealt with a lot of rather uncomfortable subjects and Break is no different. Death, possibly murder, is the subject of 'Storytellers', an unforgivingly sad piece that perfectly captures that feeling of despair, that washes over you when you realise that nothing will be the way it was when you were young. The opening line: “Take me back to my blissful youth, time didn’t matter, we made up the rules” will strike a nerve with anyone who has suffered tragedy in their younger years. It’s obviously about so much more than teenage angst and paints such a vivid picture of pain and suffering, especially at the chorus: “There’s a place in the back of my head where everyone’s still around”. This deep emotional theme appears again in 'Too Much'. Comando's electric guitar giving out a low, grungy sound Comando encapsulates the feeling of being let down by a parent; a profound sense of longing, fighting to be heard over anger and a fear of further rejection: “Your baby’s all grown up, but I’m still yours”.
Between the dark and emotional tacks there're a few with entirely relatable content. 'Paycheck' and 'Doreen' discuss dead end jobs and running off with your best friend, leaving it all behind. There is such a sweet sadness to the lyrics within these songs, especially in the latter: “Let’s make a promise that we’ll quit our jobs find a way to do all the things that we want”. Being able to connect to the subject matter on more than one level brings a sense of realism to these tracks, you get a sense that Comando has lived through this and been deeply affected by it all. It takes so much talent to be able to convey your own words to others in a relatable way but Comando has it down. Her ability to write such emotionally intricate songs that her audience can connect to is wholly admirable and almost, even enviable.
As a first time listener of Slingshot Dakota, I really enjoyed this album; it’s an incredible piece of work full of beautifully written and expertly performed songs. They have put their entire body and soul into making this record, the sacrifice oozes out of every note, every word. The talent that has been poured in to these nine tracks is astounding and we can’t wait to see where this takes them.