4 out of 5

Label: Warner Bros.

Produced by : Dan ‘the Automator’ Nakamura, Howard Benson

It’s easy to hate on Head Automatica, and I have certainly wanted to.  The side project of Glassjaw guy Daryl Palumbo, HA would give the artist a chance to punch up the poppier influences that stifled the hardcore on Glassjaw’s Worship and Tribute, sharpened to an infectious and danceable 3.5 minute flash by Nakamura.  And lest GJ followers wanted to scream a sell-out foul (though they wouldn’t have, given how relatively commercial the group’s sound became on Worship), Palumbo and a bevy of notable hardcore producers – Benson, Dave Sardy on mixing – keep heavy guitars and drums in the mix, while Daryl’s frenetic vocals slip in and out of shouts, all to the joy of Nakamura, who seems to have an incredible time whipping this all into shape.  (And we can credit him, given how followup Popaganda was so much less of a booty-shaker.)  (Yes, I rate things on booty-shakability constantly.)

This description might still sound like I’m hating on it, but honestly, Decadance is an incredibly unique brew, and while the middle of the album hangs around a bit too long without the ear-grabbing beats and mix-ins of opener ‘At the Speed of a Yellow Bullet’ or ‘Beating Heart Baby,’ the short runtime means you’re never too far away from something that gets you going again, like the rousing conclusion of ‘Dance Party Plus’ or the sudden surge of closer ‘I Shot William H. Macy.’  It’s the base accessibility of nearly the entire album, along with the amazing production and vocal fireworks from Palumbo, that edge this above a 3-star mark, even if the experience is admittedly akin to empty calories.  But credit due to Daryl for trying on the lyrics, which are, to be fair, never stupid, just too vaguely defined to have an impact, and it is interesting that the track that seem to be bubble-headed dance numbers – like Please Please Please (Young Hollywood) – betray their upbeat nature with some darker imagery sneaked in.

I stopped by Head Automatica to check out the Dave Sardy; I stayed because the album just gets into your head, most tracks so pleasingly toe-tappable that you sheepishly shrug and figure to give it one more song before you depart.  I might not’ve been wowed by Palumbo’s hardcore work, but funneling out the genre experimentation from that and plugging it into a party album turned out to be a pretty genius move.