EP Review: Skulljuice by Dazeyrot

August Edwards

If it’s not the price of gas, it’s the price of food or rent or health insurance or whatever. It’s feeling time slipping away, it’s losing touch with faraway friends. In feeling bad about everything, it’s become common to romanticize persistent survival—it’s romantic to imagine a different world. In their debut EP Skulljuice, Dazeyrot don’t mince words about everything sucking, but they’re unafraid to long for something more.

Crushed!? vets Joel Sheets (bass, backing vocals) and Jake Snider (guitar) are joined by Ema Beckley (vocals, guitar) and Eyan Sanchez (drums) to form the very cool Dazeyrot. Their mix of goofy, up-tempo, popish-punkish (think Green Day) screws into a dark, sludgey wormhole. The band’s sound might seem effortless, but a focused listen reveals how tightly crafted it really is—a project that feels inevitable given the talent involved. 

The EP opens with “K-Superstar,” a no-frills banger. We wade through the mucky guitars, bark with the tough backing vocals. With all the grinding, the thing runs with zero friction. It’s heavy with just a little bit of posturing, enough to pull you in without disturbing their don’t-give-a-fuck equilibrium. I want to listen to this song, and I want to listen to the rest of the EP.

The title track, “Skulljuice,” starts playfully enough with its bouncy, almost cartoonish riff. Every syllable is punched out with deliberate over-enunciation. I’m given the impression of a drama brewing—something like, Beckley really wants to be understood, even though she won’t outright say it. As the track unfolds, the impishness curdles into something psychotic; once you’ve recognized that shift, you’re left writhing with the song. Sheets’s signature shout slices through the fuss, and suddenly the song’s funhouse mirror starts to feel more like a trap, hypnotic and terrifying and ambushing.

“Headhold” is a kind of metal scrutiny of the collective neurosis stemming from loneliness and trying to connect in a fractured world, maybe touching on the role of over- and under-medication as well. Someone might argue that it’s trite at first—regardless, it becomes a compelling, urgent story. “I see your face on fucking everyone!” lands like a stab to the kidney. We all know that face, the ugly, jarring face that follows us everywhere (we see it on fucking everyone). The fucked up harmony of it all ends up being emblematic of all the scary shit that guides us. Even more twisted, the fear and discomfort being vocalized makes it comforting in that age-old way, it’s why people are drawn to heavier stuff. If someone tells me “I was drawn to heavy music as a kid because I grew up in a loud, chaotic environment,” “Headhold” is the kind of song I imagine would bring comfort.

The crunchy “Dour” lives up to its title. The guitars loosen up, the air gets thinner, and the band slips into a kind of autopilot. The song embodies that compulsive nihilism the band seems to thrive in, the feeling of sneering at the world while knowing you’re no better than it.

“Save Your Complex” ends up showing the entire hand of Skulljuice and perhaps the ideology of Dazeyrot, tying the whole thing together. It’s frantic and propulsive, laced with the self-conscious stress that defines Skulljuice. The breakdown feels like a real breakdown a person might have, complete with a whiny, directionless guitar solo that sounds less like showing off and more like spiraling out. It all ends in a spoken-word outro through a static filter washed with echoing metallic guitar strums. It’s a flash of throbbing sincerity, an almost embarrassing display of yearning. 

There’s a stem winding through Skulljuice—a kind of defiant self-awareness—that makes their noise feel meaningful. When things are bad, sometimes you need a distraction, something to get you out of your own head. Can’t think of a better thing than Skulljuice to do the job. I’m left thinking that Dazyrot’s nihilism is compulsive, not elective, and just like the rest of us, they want to be seen.