Yet another killer February release that I had somehow totally missed, despite trying to keep a decently close eye on what Sunday Drive Records is up to. Hell, I even follow the band!? There's just too much damn noise on social media...
Anyway, North Carolina four-piece Dull Mourning has released two singles and two EPs since 2021, and their latest, Slow Bullet, continues to impress. When I first covered 'em way back in January of 2022, I was reminded of that early-2000s era when there were a lot of catchy, emo-tinged bands that were actually rather "heavy," too. That might have undersold it a bit for Dull Mourning, as there's an almost nü-ish edge to their chugging oomph (probably in more of a Deftones kinda way). There's certainly a lot of that "grungegaze" aesthetic happenin' as well, but while shoegaze-related influences have definitely passed the point of oversaturation at this point, when handled appropriately and with the right balance, I'm still here for it. To my ears, Dull Mourning strikes that balance, for sure.
I'm somewhat surprised that Slow Bullet does not appear to have been issued on cassette, but perhaps that's just as well, because I personally have been starting to lose steam on shelling out for physical releases that fall on the shorter side. I do struggle to keep up with bands that release material in smaller spurts, though, so it feels to me like Dull Mourning is due for a proper album at some point in the not-so-distant future... I hope?
Find Slow Bullet on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever else.
