(Cover art by Noah Topliff) It's been about a year since we've heard from Dad Bod in a full-band capacity. The waning days of winter 2020 saw the release of "Spirits," the band's second single, and the final shows any of us would play or attend for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, the band managed to have a productive summer — July saw the release of Precursor , a stripped-back EP of songs reconstructed by Callie Marino and Wilson Zellar. The EP combined songs familiar from Dad Bod's live set and newer material. One of those new songs was opener "4/9." Eight months later, we're finally hearing that song in its new, fleshed-out form. Dad Bod is leaning wholeheartedly into their holy melancholy on "4/9." The sonic differences are what will likely first catch your ear, but the similarities are where the band shines. Rather than be completely reinvented, the spectral beauty of the original is filtered through a prism; it is transform...

We've had a bit of a rough go of it, huh? I haven't been to a show since March 11 (Marmalade + bugsy tour kick-off at Hi Watt House), which I'm guessing (and hoping) is roughly how long it's been for most of you too. Virtually every DIY band who was planning to tour, record, or release new music had to at worst cancel or at best rearrange everything. 2020 was a year of adaption. Without any of the prior infrastructure supporting a musician's livelihood, everyone had to scrounge together whatever they could to keep sane and try to survive. After approximately nine months of *gestures to everything*, we've hit the end point; the time to reflect. These are just some of the albums that brought me joy this year, that reminded me how incredible it is to be able to participate in such a community. I'm grateful to have been able to interview four out of five of these bands (Dad Bod, you're next) and help share their music and words with people across the state a...

(Cover art by Wilson Zellar) After hearing Precursor , the new EP from Minneapolis's Dad Bod , it's immediately apparent what the best "quarantine album" is (sorry, Taylor Swift). Unexpectedly prevented from recording their forthcoming debut record, the band decided to take advantage of the time they were given. Callie Marino, the band's songwriting mastermind, vocalist, and one of three (!) guitarists, partnered with Wilson Zellar, multi-instrumentalist and engineering wizard, to compose a simple, minimal EP of mostly new songs. The sound of Precursor  will likely come as a shock to anyone who's spent time with Dad Bod's prior singles (" Rot " and " Spirits ") or managed to catch them live in their full-band glory. The haunted emotions of Marino's work provides a throughline from oceanic shoegaze to stripped back dreamscapes. While the contributions of guitarist Noah Topliff and drummer Alex Gray are missed, Zellar and Marino find ...

Dad Bod , simply put, are the best. After only releasing two songs, they've become one of the most revered bands in the Twin Cities. Their latest single, " Spirits ," has now been blessed by a fantastic new video, shot and directed by the one and only Keegan Burckhard . Pastel colors blur with echoing shots of the band. We don't get videos like this too often, but for Burckhard, it's par for the course. This is probably the best since " New Song No. 2 ." Watch the video for "Spirits" below. Dad Bod will be releasing a new "stripped" EP on June 12, presumably consisting of the recordings that Callie Marino and Wilson Zellar have been working on lately. Maybe even "4/9" from the recent Brace Cove comp?  Either way, we're excited. The band will also be releasing their debut record at the end of the summer (!).

(Cover art by Callie Marino) "Rot" might have misled you into thinking that Dad Bod wasn't a band with three guitarists, at least up until its closing moments. The band's new single "Spirits" won't fool so easily. "Spirits" is a straightforward song. Its scale is balanced equally between the triumvirate of feedback that the band can summon and gentle, chiming melodicism. Even when the quintet waters the flowers of their chaotic discontent, they do so carefully, deliberately. The bursts of noise still dissipate like fog over the lake, but they reach an end point, reigned in by Wilson Zellar's stellar (ha) production. Guitar tone aside, Callie Marino's songwriting is still as insanely compelling (and just plain good ) as it was when I first listened to "Rot." Like, come on: how is "I may be a ghost / but my biggest fear's transparency" not a line from some classic song? Paul McCartney who ? As you ma...

(Cover art by Jane Borstad) There is an extremely potent tenderness in the music Callie Marino makes as Dad Bod. Nearly everything about the band's debut single "Rot" encourages quiet introspection or an overflow of emotion, whether it's Marino's poetry of emptiness, the twinkling guitar lines, or the depth of her voice. It's a secretly electrified fence, dividing you and an unwanted memory. Things pop up in the daily minutiae (checking the fridge, a grocery list on your phone) and serve as ever-present reminders. The main thing that sets its trajectory slightly off from the Julien Baker-esque ballad it mostly is are the sudden stabs of shoegaze that come in the song's final moments. It never quite reaches the screaming catharsis of a song like "Appointments," but that's because it's not trying to. "Rot" instead lets the noise speak for itself. As Marino sings of hiding and fading away, the waves of squalling guitar spe...