Mikey Holland is mostly known around town for being two things: a pretty rad fucking dude, and the drummer for indie rock stalwarts Mean Creek. Now the Somervillian is stepping out from behind the kit with the Dazies, a new project that’s grown from solo endeavor to a full-fledged rock band that includes members of Slowdim and Banana Phonetic.
As the full band jumps into the studio later this month to record with Holland’s Trabants bandmate Eric Penna, the Dazies have released two tracks to give us a stripped-down taste of their sound: the smokey, ’60s-kissed “Time Is All We Need,” and a cover of Evan Dando’s “Why Do You Do This To Yourself.” The release party arrives tomorrow night at Great Scott in Allston alongside Crushed Out, the TeleVibes, and Vanya fam the New Highway Hymnal.
The initial recordings were done by Holland himself.
“I personally like that Guided By Voices/Daniel Johnston basement sound,” he tells Vanyaland. I recorded the entire record on an analog tape machine in my apartment, so it has that rickety house vibe. After several rehearsals [with the new recruits] I decided to shelf the record and brought on Eric Penna to come aboard and produce and engineer the record as a full band. This two-song thing is a reaction to the last few months I’ve had.”
Holland assures us that the newer version of the Dazies, as well as the re-recorded material, is a bit more rocking, but there’s nothing wrong with a tender dose to get us acquainted with his songwriting.
