The Party After, a band from Omaha, has, in the span of 15 plus years, not only their sound but also their personality and their strong friendship. Now with the arrival of “Blast Off, ” the wild lead single off their debut album Dopamine Machine, the threesome is making a loud and clear first impression in the greater rock field, which looks both like a warning and a relief. Such a record is a kind of statement that a band, apart from being performers, is also a storyteller, having the toughest, most educational, and most thrilling chapters of their long and unpredictable journey engraved on their experience.
Jared “Badsquatch” Gottberg, Tony “Bony Tates” Bates, and Derek “Fooligan” Talburt, three lifelong best friends, formed The Party After after years of traveling, trials, and their personal grit. Along the way, the trio had been robbed while on tour, experienced lawsuits from former collaborators, and were mismanaged to the point that their progress was almost derailed. However, the trio never faltered, only doubled their resolve at each defeat. “Blast Off” is a song that brings to mind the exact scene, the point where one is utterly worn out but shows great determination, where a dream turns into reality.
To properly dive into the creative process, the band decided to pack up and leave their hometown of Omaha for recording at the Topetitud Estudios in Mexico City, a place partially owned by Molotov’s Tito Fuentes. It is not just the new surroundings that were different; the band members had to be far away from everything familiar to be able to work. The majority of the recording was done in five days while Jared continued to work for nearly a month on the album, and he even made a solo project of fourteen tracks in the studio. The desire, the stubbornness to not take a break, is what “Blast Off” literally screams from each of its parts.
The members of the band bring with them sets of influences that become fused in a manner that sounds unrefined yet quite purposeful. Jared’s devotion to Pink Floyd and Deftones, Tony’s variety that goes from 311 to Ghost, and Derek’s liking for everything ranging from Bullet for My Valentine to hip-hop, combined to form “dystopian party rock” as they describe it. The genre is loud, it is cinematic, and it is based on the roots of classic rock, but with a modern and somewhat restless twist. The massive guitars, the rapid and almost frantic drums, and the basslines that are as powerful and full as thunder create a panicky sound, and it is quite intentional, the panic being the dark side of fame that is being sung about in the track.
“Blast Off” is the album’s very first indication of trouble. It is the very moment before the fall, the recognition of it that leads to the decision to go on anyway. To keep the arrangement large, urgent, and visceral was the band's deliberate choice, and to emphasize the idea, they even wrote an actual countdown. As the first track on Dopamine Machine, it is the introduction to a work that deals with topics such as ambition, illusion, addiction, pressure, and the intoxicating chase of “more.”
The true importance of “Blast Off” lies in its very nature as a twofold piece: it flaunts the vitality of rock while at the same time probing the hazardous myth fabric behind it. The Party After members are not making the lifestyle look attractive in any way; rather, they are letting us see the flaws underneath the glitter.
By this release, The Party After are showing the world that they are not just another rock band on the street list, but the creators of a different bunch of stories in the realm of alternative rock. “Blast Off” is their starting point, their statement, and their invitation to the audience to get ready for an adventurous ride.
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