Galleons // Violent Delights
This is my favorite album of 2024 so far. It’s massively upbeat, fun, and overflowing with character.
Somehow Galleons have flown under my radar until now which is insane because they have released three other albums since 2018. I can’t even comment on them because I’ve just been jamming this new one. It’s exciting though because I normally discover bands at the start of their career – with Galleons, I have multiple previous albums to explore.
Stylistically, Galleons is similar to Dance Gavin Dance and Eidola. Their clean singer is also the vocalist of Valiant Hearts so there’s obviously some overlap there.
But simply labeling this album as “post-hardcore” would be a disservice to its variety. This thing is dynamic. It’s the wild west and you have no idea how each song will unfold.
And that’s a good thing because ‘Violent Delights’ has 15 songs and is almost an hour long. No matter, the band remains engaging the whole time, offering a fresh take on each song. A big part of that variety is their unique vocal patterns. The singer and screamer constantly trade blows and often fight to overtake the other (the title track is a good example of that).
I’m really struggling with how I compare this to Dance Gavin Dance. When I first listened, I heard unmistakable similarities. Now that I’ve listened more, I don’t think they’re all that close. The main commonality is the chaotic screaming sections. I think I’ll just say that if you like DGD, you will definitely like this. But also, if you don’t like DGD because of Tillian’s singing, you should give this a chance because you’ll probably like Galleons’ more grounded approach.
“Vagabond” is one of my favorite songs. The chorus is a blast and the instruments are super energetic the whole way through. It also has the happiest blast beats I’ve ever heard.
Other favorites include “Deadman Wonderland” (which features Ryu Kinoshita), “Russian Roulette,” and “You Who Swallowed A Falling Star.” In general, I really like the choruses on this album. Even if it’s just on in the background, the chorus in songs like “Lament” and “Crybaby” recapture my interest.
