Whenever anyone asks me for music recommendations or simply mentions in passing that they are looking for new music, Slaughter Beach, Dog (SBD) is always one of the first artists I recommend. For anyone out there looking for fun, catchy songs that also have unique and intriguing lyrics, you should definitely check out SBD. For any die-hard or even casual Modern Baseball fans, you’ll probably recognize the lead singer of SBD’s voice. Jake Ewald sang, wrote, and recorded for his band Modern Baseball until they disbanded in 2017. After that, SBD, which started out as a side project, became Ewald’s full time focus. Whether you’ve never heard of Slaughter Beach, Dog at all, or you’re actually a pretty big fan, I think you’ll gain a new appreciation for them as an artist by the end of this review.
Their debut LP, Welcome, is a concept record; as a whole it tells a story and collectively portrays a certain idea or message. Throughout Welcome, there are a lot of songs that mention the name Annie, who I would assume is one of the characters in the story told through the album. This album centers on Annie and her struggles with loss, depression/self-harm, and absent or neglectful parents. This storyline is woven into the lyrics of all the songs on this record. For example, in the song “Monsters”:
There are monsters everywhere I turn
In disguises my young self couldn’t discern
See them now in my brother’s passing
See them now in my father’s absence
It’s clear the character is dealing with an absent father, the loss of a brother, and some internal struggles from these few lines alone. If you listen to the song “Monsters” in its entirety, you’ll get an even better idea of the storyline that the album follows.
The way Ewald writes about these characters’ struggles with these events or emotions that are not uncommon in this world is what makes this album so incredible by allowing the listeners to relate to the character just like they would in a novel. I’ve listened to quite a few concept records, but Slaughter Beach, Dog’s is the only one that’s had this strong of an impact on me. Ewald gives the characters backstories and the way he writes it’s as if we’re going on this journey with the characters. Even though we might not know exactly what is going on or what is happening to her. However, we as listeners are still able to relate to the overall message and empathize with the character. A verse from Welcome’s “Politics of Grooming” displays a perfect example of how Ewald does this:
When you were younger and your mother started drinking
She would tuck you in and close your bedroom door
Then one night you sprung awake
Inside a turning twisted dream
And you ran downstairs to find her laying out across the floor
She did not hear you softly crying near
Or feel your mouth all hot against her ear
So you kissed her like she taught you
And for the first time on a head
You got up and tucked your own self into bed
This verse is so emotional. It’s talking about Annie and how her mother is an alcoholic and used to tuck her in at night. Even if this isn’t an experience you can relate to, you feel so strongly for the character in this song. The absence of maternal warmth and support for this character is heartbreaking. Ewald’s writing is so sincere and real and that adds to the level of emotion that it provokes. This is the kind of character development I’d expect to see in a novel, throughout a few chapters, and he manages to do that in a single verse. Not only is Ewald a great storyteller through the medium of his lyrics, but he also uses his lyrics to pique intrigue and wonder in the listeners.
I personally feel as though the task of writing relatable lyrics that are also complex and not blatantly stating what the writer is trying to say is incredibly challenging, at least for myself as a songwriter. I always find myself doing too much of one, either being very relatable but being too literal and outward, or being too cryptic and specific and having it lose relatability. Yet it seems that Ewald does this effortlessly with each album and each song he writes because all his lyrics have that same feeling to it. Then, because they are so specific, a lot of the time I’m left wondering what exactly each certain line is about or each song is about. One specific song that Ewald really locks this concept down in is “Black Oak”:
Investigating exit ramps, waiting for a sign
Scanning up the A.M. band, sliding down the vine
He felt his stomach turn again and pulled off at the park
She was standing in the black oak, carving poems in the bark
…
Somewhere in the static, a disembodied voice
The circumstances changed, she will not have a choice
The line dies, crackles soft, then sputters back to life
“They found him at the black oak, they dug him up last night
The last two lines in particular really strike me. They are so jarring and the writing is beautiful and descriptive, but not to the point where it goes overboard with any redundant descriptions or extraneous details. This entire song has a very dark feeling to it. Ewald is hardly even singing the lyrics; it’s more like muttering. And the lyrics are very fitting for this droning voice that he has throughout the entire song. I don’t necessarily need to know exactly what this song is about, but it’s the elaborate details in the lyrics that strike a cord with my emotions. His lyrics are somehow both detailed and ambiguous at the same time and that’s something that gets me hooked on an artist. Sometimes you’re able to get a basic idea of what the song is about, but those details in each line always add a sense of mystery. If you give any song of theirs a listen and really focus in on the lyrics, you’ll know exactly what I mean.
All of the examples from songs I’ve listed above seem to have very specific scenarios going on, or Ewald might be writing about something that happened to him, perhaps an experience unique to him. Nevertheless, I find myself still able to feel something when listening to his lyrics. I feel as though it is me who is experiencing whatever he is writing about. Even his writing about fictional characters in the concept album still resonates with me on a completely different level than any other artist’s lyrics have before. Not to mention the fact that Ewald writes so beautifully that you don’t even care if the song is sad or about a depressing and emotional experience because the lyrics are just so enticing you just want to dive into them and seek out their deeper meaning and try to relate that to your own experience. Slaughter Beach, Dog’s lyrics never fail to grab the attention of the listeners, trigger an emotional response, and leave the listeners in complete awe of what they just heard.
