Check out the track by track breakdown of OH THE HUMANITY's superb new 'Ground To Dust' album by Punknews.org... https://www.punknews.org/article/84677/listen-to-the-new-album-and-read-a-track-by-track-breakdown-by-oh-the-humanity
Ground To Dust Track-By-Track Breakdown
”Imposter Syndrome”
Technically just the first part of “Gutted” but we split it up since “Gutted” was a single and it made sense to have that thing on fire straight off the rip. Chris had this sweet guitar thing which kinda sounds like Hum. KP plays his bass with a violin bow. Jim does a lot of pretty shimmery stuff up top. -Kyle
”Gutted”
”Gutted” is a song about self loathing, self improvement, and an inability to forgive yourself. Wrestling with the person you are, the person you were and the person you want to be. It’s one of our favorites, everyone’s first choice for album opener and we’ve been playing it live for a while now. -Kev
”Upper Riffs”
I missed a bunch of band practices one winter because I kept catching upper respiratory infections. When I came back I had written this song. We jammed and it came together real quick. Tini dubbed it “Upper Riffspatory Infection”. Lyrically, Kevin asked me if I had any thematic ideas for the song. I told him I was thinking about how it sucks to have a good memory because you remember all kinds of stuff that it’d probably be better to forget. Half hour later he sent me the vocal demo. -Chris
”Worth Nothing”
I just want to grow my own food, spend time with my family and make art with my friends. Late stage capitalism, that’s going really well huh? -Kev
”Love Irresolute”
This song is the product of sitting up in the middle of the night, alone, with an acoustic guitar during COVID lockdowns. It lived on my phone as a demo for years until we got the energy and vibes right with the full band. It’s a great example of my bandmates’ ability to take a basic idea and turn it into something special and exciting. The lyrics question the concept of unconditional love and the chorus has got some big time harmonies. -Chris
”Circumstances”
Heavy, riffy, and fairly unrelenting. This is the first tune I brought to the band. Being the new guy, you’re always nervous about upsetting the existing songwriting dynamic in a band. Those nerves went away when everyone took the initial demo and made it their own, and we turned it into the ripper it is today. Kevin’s lyrics hit hard and the chorus is one of my favorites on the record for that reason. -Kyle
”Blues”
Quick sad ripper. Inspired by some of Kevin’s favorite short and hard hitting pop punk tunes. Started off as a quick acoustic demo on Kevin’s phone before going through the OTH car wash. -Kev
”Never Do Another Rule”
When new songs come to the practice space they generally fall into one of three categories - Chris songs, Jim songs or Kyle songs. This one is a Jim song, which is easy to spot with all of the sick shred. Big chorus, nasty solo, I Think You Should Leave reference in the title. -Kev
”Last Gasp”
”Last Gasp” was the first song on this record that we worked on as a group but one of the last to come together in the studio. This one is a bit of a departure from most of the other tunes, more of a laid back feel but it still has a lot of energy. It’s a song about wanting to feel a certain way but not being able to get yourself there no matter how hard you try to force it. -Kev
”Siren Song”
This song was originally called “Egg 'n' Cheese” because that's what Jim likes to put on his bagels. But we already had another 2 songs with working titles about bagels so we changed the name. -Kev
”Ground to Dust”
Pretty original idea to end the album with a really long tune with a fade out. That’s never been done before. It's pretty evident I was listening to a lot of Colony-era In Flames when I started writing it. Thanks guys. Probably owe them a beer or something. The Chris/Jim solo section is one of my favorite parts on the record. First half is a straight up Chris DiIeso melodic ripper. Jim came up with this crazy stacked harmony thing in the second half that sounds like Blind Guardian which is always appropriate. Outro started off as a voice note Kevin sent with the “do what you love” melody. And then the rest of the song was sort of written as a way to build up to the outro. -Kyle
Comments