SONG OF THE DAY: "The Great Depression" by Dave Hause

Dave Hause is/was the lead singer of The Loved Ones, who were one of my favorite bands during my musically-formative years of high school. The EP version of "100K" got semi-regular airplay on Steven's Untitled Rock Show on Fuse, which I watched pretty much daily, but I knew nothing else about the band. However, I distinctly remember riding the bus to school and listening to "Suture Self" and "Jane," which I got from www.fatwreck.com (where they're still available for free!), and wondering why I hadn't ever checked out a full album by these guys. I listened to those two songs on repeat for the rest of the week until I could get to Best Buy to buy Keep Your Heart.

That album was nearly perfect, and it set the stage for my undying love of fast, catchy, pop/punk with words that are worth singing about. I still contend that The Loved Ones-style pop/punk is the greatest genre of music ever created, where there are loads of energy and emotion in equal measure. The band released a second album, Build and Burn, in 2008, which introduced more of an Americana/alt-country sound at times. They released their second EP, Distractions, the following year, but then they sort of fizzled out. While they never officially broke up and seem to mention the possibility of releasing another album every year, frontman Dave Hause grew impatient and began touring and releasing albums all by himself.

Hause's first solo album, 2011's Resolutions, continued where The Loved Ones left off with Build and Burn, exploring his folk and country influences in a rock- and punk-influenced context. He then released five EPs over the course of 2012, each of which contained two alternate versions of Resolutions songs and two covers. But upon the release of last year's Devour, Hause perfected the sound he had been approaching for years. His brilliant mix of roots, alternative, punk, and folk rock, combined with his outstanding songwriting, came together to produce one of the best albums of the last few years.

Devour presents a sobering, contemplative look at what it means to live in the post-recession United States, while also examining his own relationships and aging process in this context. The result is a cohesive, well thought-out, important piece of art in which certain motifs appear repeatedly throughout the album. It's catchy, powerful, and heartfelt, but also often dark, moody, and intense. Yet, despite all the bleakness, it still manages to end with a glimmer of hope. On the strong closing track, "Benediction," Hause concludes that as long as we all have each other, we'll be alright.

Listen below to one of many stand-out tracks from Devour, "The Great Depression," a tale of broken promises and misguided plans that led us to a collective, and necessary, redefinition of the American Dream.

We were the Reagan kids
Our heroes didn't work like our daddies did
They dazzled us with TV through sleepy lids
We followed hulking maniacs to Prozac nation
"You can be anything, just get your education"

We were good Christian kids
Went to church on Sunday mornings like mama did
Teenage love made us feel guilty and so we hid
Under those overpasses on summer nights
We'd tear each other's clothes off
And get into fights

Then we roared right through our twenties
Never bargained for a crash
Watched our hollow dreams get buried
Under heaps of plastic trash
Broken promises to children leave indelible impressions
Welcome to the great depression

We were our father's sons
Playing war on weekend days with our plastic guns
Catching up with who we were through the reruns
"Eat your vitamins and say your prayers
You'll become doctors, lawyers and millionaires"

We were misguided girls
Tried to fuck our way through such a distorted world
Confusing love with sex and plastic with pearls
"Get what you can for yourself, leave the rest behind"
It's freedom forever 'til your card gets declined

And we roared right through our twenties
Never bargained for a crash
Watching hollow dreams get buried
Under heaps of plastic trash
Broken promises to children leave indelible impressions
Welcome to the great depression

Did he die for your sins?
Did he leave us for dead?
If you wanted us safe why would you fuck with our heads?
The factory's gone, the loans are foreclosed
But there's some places left that remind me of home
Just give me one place left that reminds me of home

The lifeboat is looking pretty full
If you find some room reach out and give me a pull
The way we learned to live is fading fast
I guess we never bargained for a crash