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Double Dagger

The 405
"All I can say is I want to kiss the lead singer on his beautiful, bald head for giving me music I can be proud to tell my friends about... Give Double Dagger a chance, they will be on your top albums of 2009. And see them live when they tour for More, but wear clothes you don’t mind getting 100s of people’s sweat on. Rating: 9/10"

All Music Guide
"Bringing back the spirit of the underground punk movement of the '80s, specifically that of Dischord bands like Minor Threat and Fugazi, Double Dagger's, More, is precisely that. It's more provocative, more realized, and more powerful than any of their prior releases... This is punk rock in the purist form. Filled with social commentary and smart, art-house literary references, picking a favorite on this album could prove itself a difficult feat."

BBC Music
"More exposes Double Dagger's softer side – and it's immensely likable. [The album] is guaranteed to stay deep within the ears and hearts of those it does reach."

The Washington Post
"One of the toughest things about being an amazing live band is transferring the in-person experience to CD. And there aren't many better live bands than Baltimore trio Double Dagger... There's simply no way to recreate that infectious live energy, but the aptly-titled Ragged Rubble comes pretty close... This is the kind of record that probably won't make it onto the radar of too many people, but will leave a lasting impression on those who take the time to listen."

Baltimore City Paper
"Double Dagger has always worn its heart on its sleeve, but by embracing just how such a forthright stance exposes you, the band has matured into an even more defiant, pertinent, and essential force... MORE is a phenomenal leap forward."

Pasta Primavera
"Baltimore’s Double Dagger is a ball of fire that freezes your hand, a warm embrace that punches you in the gut, an explosive puppy."

Aural States
"You’ll wonder why the hell these other bands need more members and instruments to even attempt to approach the intensity, size and diversity of Double Dagger’s sound."

Anti-Gravity Bunny: Haiku Review
"/daggers are awesome/
/double daggers, twice awesome/
/i want more daggers/"

The Mobtown Shank
"Once upon a time, after I'd get 2 or 3 drinks in me, all you'd have to do is mention Double Dagger and I'd go off on a rant of about just how important, relevant and incredible this band is. My opinion has only greatly increased with the release of Ragged Rubble -- where now I don't need any drinks to go off and one need not even mention the band as a catalyst."

The Washington Post
"[Ragged Rubble is the] 2007 album that made me feel most alive, this is stripped-down but plenty-loud post-punk with a message, not too far off from Fugazi. (Ian MacKaye watched approvingly at their August D.C. show.)"

Baltimore City Paper
"Double Dagger has always provided dark, frenetic, politically charged punk rock for people who enjoy using their brains."

Punk Planet
"Po-mo as a motherfucker."

Village Voice
"I'm not sure I know what the point is, and I don't care. [This] shit gets on my nerves."

New Bengal Spice

NEW BENGAL SPICE 
Written by Brian Echon    
Tuesday, 19 May 2009 
“I had this dream where I was playing catch with a little kid and I noticed he had a beetle behind his ear. And in my dream I knew it was called a powder beetle and it sucked wave voltage from people’s minds and would make its own frequencies that would affect your thought processes and controlled you like a parasite,” recounts Peter Wallner, who may be one terribly shy and self-conscious kid, but the quiet ones are always the biggest dreamers. In 2007, Wallner came home from tour only to lose both his job and his girlfriend. Devastated, he made a new year’s resolution to write and record a song once a month. But after waking up from that particularly vivid dream, Wallner’s songwriting process was expedited by newfound inspiration. Recorded at home on a 4-track with the sounds of everyday life captured by a tape recorder Wallner carries everywhere, New Bengal Spice is anything but your standard bedroom pop project. A surreal sonic experiment interweaving acoustic instruments with a plethora of real world sound bites, the first NBS album is a 40-minute dream sequence in the form of tape collage. Now, the follow-up to what just may be 2007’s best kept secret, Wave Voltage is Wallner’s sound dream further refined and fully realized. Recording on an 8-track in a new home full of other musicians and critical of their judgment, Wallner opted for the use of electronic instruments and proves to be quite the programming whiz. Wave Voltage achieves that organic feel under all the wires and sparks just as well as bands like Animal Collective can sound natural. It’s an elemental album, sonically fluid and cohesive, and through all the spliced sound samples and confessional dream monologues, there’s a story that you’ll see cinematically clip-by-clip, song-by-song. New Bengal Spice is the sound of hands on metal, a murder of crows, tape hissing, a passing train, voicemail stories, static, subtle coincidences and waking up from a dream. Most importantly, it’s a whole new cup of tea.

Poison Diamonds