worlds greatest dad - Better Luck Next Time

““Twenty Deer” is a crash course in pure despair, as Maddie Duncan finds themself tired of the world around—vowing to resign to a quiet life in the Poconos…the track explodes into a hazy soundscape with layered guitars and spacey, booming drums.” – Paste Magazine

“the latest single from Atlanta emo band worlds greatest dad, is an infectious, irritated anthem about wishing you had enough money to be hedonistic. Chaotic memories are the only sense of thrill left, and there’s no desire to ameliorate your behavior: “I just don’t believe in healing,” Maddie Duncan sings, a refreshing admission in the midst of an era of therapy-speak. “The Ocean” longs for intensity while also providing it through invigorating riffs and relatable, funny lyrics.” – Stereogum’s ‘5 Best’

“lead single “Twenty Deer” mostly reminds me of stuff like Ratboys and Wednesday… it embraces the timeless life-on-the-road trope, using deer on the side of the road in the Poconos as a metaphor for feeling “too overwhelmed to understand, appreciate, and actually experience what was happening around me” in the midst of a busy DIY tour. Like most great road songs, you don’t have to be a touring musician yourself to feel the emotion within, and vocalist/guitarist Maddie Duncan conveys that emotion with so much power.” – Brooklyn Vegan

Better Luck Next Time, which is coming out September 13th on SideOneDummy, was written in 2020, but is no less pertinent today. Better Luck Next Time’s 13 songs tussle between the vulnerability of Duncan’s lyrics and the defiance of the sonics that surround them. Opener “Twenty Deer” starts as a timid minor chord lament, but when Maddie Duncan sings ‘I’ve been too disappointed in myself to enjoy anything…like you’ the song suddenly explodes in a wall of lush but still morose sound that both defies and exasperates their emotional state. It’s raw and real, cathartic and cleansing, and the rest of the record follows suit. It’s the sound of Duncan’s truth exploding, pouring out untamed and uncensored, unable to be contained any longer, and molded majestically by the band into something that both perfectly represents their emotions and transcends them.

worlds greatest dad, the four piece of Maddie Duncan on vocals and guitar, Kegan Krogh on guitar and keys, Matt Hendler holding down percussion and Ben Etter on bass and backing vocals, recorded their sophomore album partially at Maze Studios in Atlanta, while filling in the rest in their respective homes in 2020. The band doesn’t shy away from the emo/pop-punk influences that permeate their earlier recordings, but on their second LP have embraced their roots and, as Duncan calls it, the redneck emo sound that is deeply influenced by their youth growing up in the backwoods of Florida.