Supertinyinfinitedans by Yes Yes A Thousand Times Yes

RAD-073:

Supertinyinfinitedans is a document. Better yet, it’s a time capsule. Most of Yes Yes a Thousand Times Yes’ sophomore LP has existed, in some form or another, since 2014. In that way, it’s almost a time machine, a look back into songwriter Dan Hagendorf’s life and mindset nearly a decade ago. At that time, cuts like the anti-social media ender “The Movies” and eat-the-rich anthems “Dead Eyes, Clapping in Unison” and “Numb Sum” might’ve sounded hyperbolic; in 2023, they seem prophetic. Hagendorf says their goal on Supertinyinfinitedans is to “vindicate its listeners in saying you are justified in feeling angry and desperate, but also challenge them in saying hope is not mutually exclusive.”

Sonically, these songs do indeed have their roots in the emo boom of the early 2010s: the opening “Two Birds, One’s Stoned” kicks the LP off with noodling goodness, “Society Can Help Shape Our Genes” has bouncing math riffs buried under its pop rock structure, and the six-minute “Numb Sum” begins with a math emo licks before disintegrating into a prog rock banger. As the second half of “Numb Sum” suggests, though, like with the record’s lyrical arc, its musical arc is one that stretches beyond its time-and-place origins. “Slush Fund” sheds its indie rock skin midway through to reveal a Dischord-inflected post-hardcore soul trapped inside, and each verse of “Sensual Sports” might as well be borrowed from a different song—hell, maybe even a different band—but they all come together to make a great track equally as catchy as it is crunchy.

A number of songs on Supertinyinfinitedans (“Spellcasting,” “Synchronize Yr Watches,” “Buzzing Still // Cousin House”) deal with nostalgia, the feeling that maybe there was something special that we lost along the way as we’ve grown, that there’s no way to get that thing back. Maybe, to a certain degree, that’s true—maybe there is a door that’s closed and can’t be opened again, maybe the ship’s sailed long ago. But for 45 minutes, Yes Yes a Thousand Times Yes reminds us that, whatever evil the government might be up to, or corporations, or the internet, “you can still choose to hope.” And if you can hope, then you can believe, and if you can believe, you can make it. Supertinyinfinitedans is proof.

Dan Hagendorf (guitar) // Kyle Wagoner (drums) // Erin Robinson (bass) // Cara Crowe (guitar)

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