Album Review: Dan Andriano in the Emergency Room – Party Adjacent
2 min read
One third of Alkaline Trio, Daniel Andriano, returns with his second album under the solo-moniker of Dan Andriano in the Emergency Room. Originating from Illinois, Andriano joined Alkaline Trio in 1997 where he went on to release nine albums with the band, and two albums under his aforementioned handle including Party Adjacent. Straying from the usual format of punk, DAITER heads in a much rockier direction.
Produced by Jeff Rosenstock, Party Adjacent takes a much rawer approach to business than most of the work produced by Alkaline Trio but it seems to work quite well. Backed up by Kevin Higuchi of The Jeff Rosenstock Band, Mike Huguenor, and Jeff (Rosenstock) the instrumentals can’t be faulted. The tracks combine several aspects of various genres and seem to draw inspiration from several bands of a bygone area, with Wait immediately sending me on a goose-chase looking for the track from Forest Gump that it reminded me of. Stylistic slivers of The Smiths and Men At Work sneak in here and there, with Andriano himself hinting that the 80’s were a large influence for the album.
The album seems to drag on a little bit to me with not a lot of variation over the 12 tracks. Although, for the greater part, Party Adjacent is just another outlet for Andriano, maybe it would of been worth excluding a few that didn’t make the cut for Alkaline Trio either. Andriano’s vocals are sufficient but not outstanding, especially when they aren’t being augmented by another co-frontman.
The release will undoubtably be well received by fans of Alkaline Trio craving another release, and fans of rock that may of never heard of Andriano, but to me it falls short of the level that is required to gain any real momentum in terms of popularity. I can’t see Dan’s fans favouring this over Hurricane Season, but none the less its a strong release by a band that is really just a side project. As long as Dan Andriano in the Emergency room keeps providing Andriano with an alternate creative outlet, fans of each of his two bands can look forward to getting the best of both worlds.
