Double Dagger

You and Double Dagger need to talk: The orange-obsessed Baltimore trio isn’t happy with the way you just won’t come clean about your sexual obsessions, and they’re not at all feeling the way you live your life mostly contemplating its end. Those condos in the rough side of town aren’t quite cutting it, and neither are your elitist, isolationist and perfectionist tendencies. And, hey, why does your band sound like it’s never had an original idea?

But don’t fear Double Dagger as being overly didactic. In fact, for all the invective and analysis of this band’s three-piece punk anthems, Double Dagger is an exuberant, energetic act playing songs whose hooks stick from the start. Nolen Strals is a dervish of a frontman, capitalizing on his lack of an instrument to roam the crowd, singing into people’s faces and stirring their enthusiasms and anxieties. Drummer Denny Bowen and bassist Bruce Willen remain onstage, where—despite a lack of musical options—they generate a dynamic, sturdy backdrop for Strals’ moves and mantras. Willen’s unique bass set-up allows for a range of high and low notes, and his playing acknowledges that, in these stripped-down hardcore-ish blasts, he must reinforce the melody if it’s too mean anything.    

And Double Dagger’s songs have long meant a lot, from 2008’s Ragged Rubble to this year’s phenomenal Thrill Jockey Records EP Masks. Playful even when political, and always unwaveringly passionate, they’re reminders for forthrightness and integrity, blasted out with a volume and velocity that would make your average mall punk head back for the suburban hills. “There’s a lie and there’s a truth/ and there’s something in between that’s me and you,” Strals repeats at the end of last year's “The Lie/The Truth.” Yeah, we’ll take that. —Grayson Currin