Today marks the long-anticipated release of Dandelion, the sophomore album from Kansas City-based alt-rock band The Greeting Committee. Released via Harvest Records, Dandelion finds the four-piece working with esteemed producer Jennifer Decilveo (MARINA, FLETCHER, Bat for Lashes) and mixer Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips, Tame Impala), delivering a moody and mercurial sound perfectly suited to the album’s emotional terrain. To celebrate Dandelion’s arrival, The Greeting Committee have also shared the video for Make Out, one of the album’s more lighthearted moments. Go listen to Dandelion, and check out the video for Make Out
The follow-up to The Greeting Committee’s acclaimed 2018 debut album This Is It, Dandelion documents a particularly painful period in the life of frontwoman Addie Sartino, including the grief and inertia she experienced after a devastating breakup. Most of these songs are about feeling like you’re watching your life instead of living it: just going through the motions and feeling stuck and wanting to break out of that, but not really knowing how, she says.
Despite its often-brutal honesty, Dandelion radiates an irrepressible and unbridled energy, thanks in part to the joyful chemistry that The Greeting Committee bring to every track. To that end, the band selected the album’s title due to its suggestion of an unlikely hope. Dandelions are weeds, but depending on your perspective, you can shrug them off or you can choose to see them as a sort of beautiful flower, similar to how we have the choice in what we see in ourselves, says Sartino.
With its fuzzed-out riffs and pogo-ready rhythms, Make Out serves as a bold departure from Dandelion’s heavy-hearted tone. Co-directed by the band and Malik Lemon, the track’s outrageous video finds guitarist Brandon Yangmi facing off in a fantastically chaotic wrestling match featuring Wrestle Yr Friends (a queer wrestling collective based in Kansas City). With Sartino and bassist Pierce Turcotte playing the part of the match’s commentators, the visual makes for a brilliant counterpart to the free-spirited mood of Make Out. For the most part I like to get deep and uncomfortable in my lyrics, but this song is like the Antichrist of that, Sartino says. It’s somewhat of a true tale, about a girl who stuck her tongue out at me at a show in East Virginia and used to send me selfies where she’s in her rollerblades or eating pickles. It was the first time after my breakup that I thought, Maybe I’ll be okay. Maybe life can be fun again, and I won’t be sad forever.
In creating the tracklist for Dandelion, The Greeting Committee made a point of leading their listeners on a cathartic emotional journey. I wanted the record to really show the healing process, starting at a place of desperation and eventually getting to the point of being willing to accept reality, says Sartino. Hailed by Clash as a raw portrayal of post-break-up poignance, the album-opening lead single Can I Leave Me Too? perfectly captures the confusion of heartbreak, while its follow-up Float Away examines how depression warps our self-image. (Released in July, the track earned acclaim from Pop Matters, who likened its sonic elements to the haunted carousel all our minds seem to be stuck riding lately.) And on Ada an August release praised by Earmilk, who noted the band’s warm, welcoming, and vibrant indie rock sound. The Greeting Committee offer up a LGBTQ anthem inspired by a trans woman they befriended years ago, as well as Sartino’s own experience in coming out.
Closing out with the piano-laced reverie of Ten, Dandelion ultimately fulfills The Greeting Committee’s mission of providing their audience with an undeniable sense of emotional solidarity. Over the years we’ve had people come up to us at shows and tell us that our music has saved their lives, which is something we take very seriously, says Sartino. It’s really special to be part of the soundtrack to someone else’s experience, and we want to continue being a source of comfort to our fans and help them understand that they’re not alone.
In celebration of the album release, the band will be on Travis Mills’ Beats 1 Apple Music show and will also collaborate with Fender for a signed guitar giveaway and social takeover.
Tracklist for Dandelion by The Greeting Committee
- Can I Leave Me Too?
- Float Away
- Dandelion
- Bird Hall
- Make Out
- So It Must Be True
- Wrapped Inside Of Your Arms
- Ada
- How Long?
- Ten
