Dag Nasty - Field Day

Dag Nasty is the definitive, if not the first, "melodic hardcore" band.  Similar to the bastardization of other punk subgenres (emo and metalcore for example), the melodic hardcore Dag Nasty pioneered is much different from the agonizingly slow, melodramatic seriouscore bands or the whiny pop crap that make up a bulk of the genre today.  The Allmusic bio of Dag Nasty sums the sound up pretty perfectly: "Although the group was more accessible and melodic than Minor Threat, it never lost its blistering edge."  The band did change over time, however, due in part to the band's going through several singers, but mostly as a result of former Minor Threat guitarist Brian Baker's evolving playing and songwriting style.  Later Dag Nasty can be hit or miss, but deserves attention.

Most Dag Nasty fans point to Can I Say as the band's best and most important LP.  Some favor the sophmore effort Wig Out at Denko's, the first release with Pete Cortner on vocals.  Dag Nasty has a sort of Cro-Mags thing going on, in the sense that each band has groundbreaking debut LPs, the singers bail, and the band carries on.  If Wig Out at Denko's can be viewed as Dag Nasty's Best Wishes, then Field Day could be considered their Alpha-Omega.  There are some absolutely incredible moments on this LP, but the album as a whole suffers from too much experimentation and some incredibly dated sounds (In 1992, the Cro-Mags were messing with funky rap metal; in 1988, Brian Baker led the band through some icky pre-grunge ballads and showcases the cheesy metal noodlings that he would get out of his system with his abysmal Junkyard project.  How much of this influence came from moving the band from DC to LA is a question worth asking.

Despite its flaws, Field Day is the Dag Nasty record I listen to the most, because the good songs are simply damn good.  The songs are a faster mid-tempo, slower than the Can I Say era, but faster than a lot of Wig Out.  The production is very crisp and clear which in this case, works to the band's benefit.  The drums sound great, the guitars are powerful and clear, and the overall mix is excellent.  The vocals sound great, a real step up from Cortner's vocals on Wig Out, which sound very thin.  His singing is on another level here also, he has powerful vocal presence whether he is belting it out or singing softer as he does on the opening track:

Despite the distance, give me trust and I will bring it home to you

At around 1:58 you have that classic Dag Nasty guitar playing, where individual strings are picked and the notes rings out in a truly melodic fashion.  This song is the first of a few that deal with love and infidelity, perhaps most blatantly (and cheesily?) on this next track:

So take your hand and dry my eyes, and if I doubt you know how...remind me too

This is maybe my favorite song on the record.  This is the faster mid-tempo I mentioned earlier, and it really drives this song.  Some might consider the chorus to be pretty cheesy ("If you doubt it, let me remind you, I'm in love with you) but I don't think it's necessarily cheesier than any other song that has the word "love" in it.  The tone of this song is very sincere and since the themes of love and doubt appear throughout the album, it seems like it comes from a real place.  The break halfway through the song is incredible, giving us another one of those ringing out melodic guitar lines as the song builds up to the final chorus.  Also notice the drumroll, very tight and powerful -- the record is punctuated with these.

Leo is dead.  It's not the end of the world.  Sometimes I wish it was.

Probably the most powerful song on the album, "Dear Mrs. Touma" is about death of a young man and the lyrics read as a letter to his mother.  I think it'd be best to post the lyrics in their entirety and then we can get all English class on them.  According to the official Dag Nasty FAQ, the lyrics are true.

Dear Mrs. touma,
I walked upstairs into the kitchen
saw a piece of birthday cake and I heard my mother crying
"dressed in his black raincoat , black hat lying on the yellow line...he was run down..."
Your son was taken
And he spoke so often
with belief
with conviction
never with righteousness
of the day he'd go to heaven
and I will believe
if only for his sake
in father , son , and holy ghost
in whom he was so certain that he'd
turned the other cheek to those who teased and hurt him
Leo is dead
it's not the end of the world
sometimes I wish it was
I wouldn't wish it on anyone
Leo is dead
it's not the end of my world
sometimes I wish it was
sometimes I wish it was
and as for the man across the street
as he expresses sympathy (the fat, aging hypocrite )
spit into his face with me
"when you heard he was gone , you couldn't wait to be the first to seem concerned.
did you think we'd never learn ?
you were lying to us
you laughed at him
you threw upon him your own vices
you lied to us about everything
you lied about your barfly conquests
dying your hair to hide the gray
you're masturbating bitterly on your front porch while the wife's away"
Leo is dead
it's not the end of the world
but sometimes I wish it was

This is one of the best songs I've ever heard that deals with the death of another, the struggle to accept it, and the horrible realization that death does not care to be fair or just.  "I will believe if only for his sake..." is probably my favorite line, as the singer admits that going to heaven is the only way that death doesn't have the last word, even if ultimately he doesn't believe in it for himself.  The second verse describes a stupid asshole of a man, very well one of those whom Leo had turned the other cheek to.  This song makes me think about all the cool people who die while the wicked and horrible survive.  Mr. Rogers dies, Pat Robertson lives.  MCA and Jeff Hanneman die, Bono and Steven Tyler persist.  Why was the man across the street hit by a car instead of Leo?  I regress.  This ranks with the best Dag Nasty songs.

You felt so all alone and so did all of us

Great song about what it means to be an individual, and if you ever really were one.

New year, new start, minutes pass before it's ripped apart

Another song about a troubled relationship.  "One moment past repeated again and again in my mind."  Some Brian Baker fretboard gymnastics towards the end.  

There are a few other good songs, a few sleepers, and a cover of the earlier Dag song "Under Your Influence" that adds a new part, so horrible that you could apply every criticism of this record to that one part.  If you liked what you've heard so far, I've uploaded the record since it is long out of print.  

Dag Nasty - Field Day download

Before I go I will leave you all with a picture of the back of one of the get well cards my nephews sent me. Thanks for reading, I promise my next post will not take two weeks.

The Mayor, formerly my cat now the king of their house