Recommended Tracks: “Need Money,” “The Robot With Human Hair, Pt. 3,” “Powder To The People”
Artists You May Like: Hail the Sun, Eidola, The Fall of Troy
There are very few artists, let alone bands, that could successfully pull off releasing a third live studio rerecording project and still make it feel new and exciting. Dance Gavin Dance has never really operated within the confines of the standard band. Tree City Sessions 3 could have easily felt unnecessary on paper. Instead, it ends up sounding like a band taking a long, zoomed-out look at everything they’ve built over the years and deciding to rebuild parts of it louder, sharper, and with more confidence than before, yielding a powerhouse of an album, full of nostalgia for lifelong listeners like myself.
What immediately stands out about the album is the track selection itself, as they did not take the easy route here. Several bands making a retrospective-style release would likely stack the tracklist with the safest streaming favorites imaginable, but this feels way more catered toward the fans who have spent years obsessing over the deeper corners of the band’s catalog, full of deep cuts. Seeing songs like “Need Money,” “Powder To The People,” and “It’s Safe To Say You Dig The Backseat” make the cut feel less like fan service and more like the band acknowledging their history.
“Need Money” feels particularly revitalized. The original was already somewhat frantic in a sort of signature way where it constantly feels like the song could completely fall apart at any second while somehow staying perfectly locked together. This version sounds heavier and cleaner without losing that unpredictability. Jon Mess still sounds completely feral (this is a compliment), which is honestly part of the reason these rerecordings work so well. No matter how polished the production becomes, there’s always something slightly unstable sitting underneath everything.
One thing I kept noticing while listening was how naturally Andrew Wells fits into these older songs now. Earlier transitions between vocal eras in Dance Gavin Dance’s history sometimes felt like listeners were being asked to choose sides, but Tree City Sessions 3 doesn’t really carry that tension. Part of that could be because the fans have grown up, but it could also be that Wells approaches the material differently. Instead of trying to imitate anyone outright, the songs end up feeling refreshed rather than copied.
“The Robot With Human Hair, Pt. 3” might honestly be the best example of this idea. The original version always had this emotional edge, but here, everything feels more controlled instrumentally while still maintaining the same intensity. Will Swan’s guitar work somehow sounds even more impressive now that the production lets every unique little section breathe properly. The band has always thrived in controlled chaos, and hearing older material with this level of clarity almost makes you realize how ahead of their time some of these songs really were from a purely technical standpoint.
The timing of the release of Tree City Sessions 3 is also crucial as Dance Gavin Dance are currently back out on tour alongside The Fall of Troy, HORSE the Band, Wolf & Bear, and Novelists, and the album almost feels like a reflection of that energy. A lot of these songs are actively finding their way back into conversations and setlists again, and you can hear how much fun the band seems to be having revisiting this material instead of just treating it like nostalgia bait.
“Powder To The People” ends up being one of the biggest surprises on the album because of how much larger-than-life it sounds compared to the original version. There’s so much happening in the song structurally that it could have easily turned into noise, but the rerecorded version feels focused in a way that makes just everything hit harder as every bit plays off each other.
This release doesn’t feel nostalgic in a lazy way that rereleases sometimes can, and the album never sounds like the band is trying to perfectly recreate older versions of themselves. It sounds like they’re finally able to present these songs the way they always wanted them to sound. Some tracks feel heavier, some feel cleaner, and some honestly feel more emotional now simply because of how confident the performances are.
At this point, Dance Gavin Dance has one of the most interesting and most complicated discographies in modern post-hardcore, but Tree City Sessions 3 somehow manages to make all of those different eras feel connected. More than anything, the album feels like proof that no matter how much the lineup or sound evolves, the core identity of the band remains intact. It’s still technical, unpredictable, dramatic, and consistently impressive — exactly as they have always been.
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