Dazy

The dual EPs IT’S ONLY A SECRET (If You Repeat It) and I GET LOST (When I Try To Get Found) bridge the gap between Dazy past and future. Both of the new three-song EPs find Richmond, VA-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist James Goodson combining the fuzzy ‘90s alternative sounds of his earlier work with inventive production, hip hop-inspired beats, and keener hooks than ever. The result broadens the scope of the project without losing its raw bedroom punk roots–and hints at the many directions Dazy could go.

Since starting the project in 2020, Goodson has released nearly 50 Dazy songs across various singles, albums, EPs, collections, and collaborations. “I was moving so fast for a couple years there, I didn’t totally realize just how much music that really is until it was out,” he says. “But I felt like I’d really accomplished the sound I was aiming for with all those songs–this sort of Creation Records by-way-of home-recorded punk thing–and I knew I wanted to slow down and try to push myself a little into something different.”

Goodson’s definition of “slow down” might be a little different than others. While playing shows wasn’t even an option at the band’s start, Goodson and the live band have been making up for lost time since the release of his 2022 debut full-length, OUTOFBODY. Over the past two years, they’ve toured with Snail Mail, Narrow Head, Angel Du$t, and Militarie Gun, and played shows with the likes of The Folk Implosion and Guided By Voices. And while Dazy hadn’t released new music since 2023’s single “Forced Perspective,” Goodson has been staying busy: releasing an unexpected collaborative track with dance duo Bodysync; producing music with Australian rockers Peace Ritual; remixing songs for bands like Golden Apples and Roxy 2; and, of course, demoing more Dazy songs than he could know what to do with. “I have a habit of stockpiling music,” Goodson explains. “I write a ton, feel excited about whatever new song I’m working on, and then I sit on it for so long that I start talking myself in or out of it, depending on my mood. Classic overthinking musician-brain stuff.”

IT’S ONLY A SECRET (If You Repeat It) and I GET LOST (When I Try To Get Found) see Goodson pulverizing this mental block with six towering cuts of beat-driven indie rock that show as much veneration for thumping drum machines as loud guitars. “When I started writing the songs that became Dazy early on, the drum machines were sort of a fix–I was structuring a lot of the beats and patterns in the way a live drummer would play. But I think I’ve realized that they’re a feature rather than a bug, so I’ve been getting deeper into chopping things up, layering loops, and doing things that take advantage of the possibilities more–trying to push that contrast of human sounding guitars vs. very locked-in, mechanical, intricate beats.”

“Big End” opens IT’S ONLY A SECRET (If You Repeat It) and announces Dazy 2.0 with a shimmering guitar lead and filtered drum break that explode into the catchiest, most upbeat sounding song about death that you’ll hear this year. “Weigh Down On Me” follows with looping guitar, a crunchy boom-bap beat, warm acoustics, and possibly the biggest chorus on an EP packed with big choruses. “I’ve never been shy about what influences me,” Goodson says. “A lot of the fun of songwriting to me is the little experiments you can do in your head: ‘What would it sound like if you crammed together Beck and Blur? What if you combine The Chemical Brothers with Bob Mould?’ But I also think I’m starting to become a little more comfortable with my voice and my songwriting tics–and with letting those things lead the way.” That idea is highlighted in the quasi-title-track “It’s Only A Secret;” featuring guest vocals from MSPAINT’s one-of-a-kind frontperson Deedee, the track dips into Goodson’s grab bag of influences–punk, grunge, and college rock, plus a hop across the pond for elements of Brit Pop, Big Beat, and Madchester–but they’re brought together in unexpected and immensely satisfying ways. Ways that simply feel very Dazy.

I GET LOST (When I Try To Get Found) picks up these threads and weaves them even further. “Get Out My Mind” kicks things off with the huge guitars that defined Dazy’s earlier work but merges them with a chopped up beat that Goodson fittingly made by sampling OUTOFBODY standout “On My Way.” It’s followed by the crunchy thump of “I Get Lost,” a flat out pop song that still manages to conjure up some alternate reality where The Folk Implosion and Dinosaur Jr had miraculously joined forces on a track. The EP wraps up with one of the most dynamic and daring tracks Dazy has ever released, “The Crush” a sprawling duet with Eight’s Mimi Gallagher. The song builds and builds into a towering conclusion of skittering breakbeats, interlocking harmonies, and blown-out guitar fireworks–all while lyrically exploring the strange compulsion to pursue the more abstract things in life that are fulfilling even if sometimes they’re making you bang your head against the wall.

“A lot of my favorite songwriters are the ones that seem like they’re sort of freaks who just can’t stop making things, even if that means they’re putting out more music than anyone could potentially want, or trying some stuff that isn’t in their wheelhouse,” Goodson laughs. “I think maybe I’m starting to accept that I probably like that kind of freak because I am one.” The irony is IT’S ONLY A SECRET (If You Repeat It) and I GET LOST (When I Try To Get Found) aren’t just a couple drops in his seemingly endless well of catchy little songs. They’re essential tracks for the initiated as well as a perfect jumping on point for new listeners–and luckily none of them will need to wait long for more Dazy music. “I think the floodgates are maybe open again,” Goodson says. “I certainly have a lot more songs where these came from, and if this project has taught me anything, it’s that once I start putting out music, I tend to not want to stop.”