Ears Wide Open: Dankrupt

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First, you have to be OK with the band name Dankrupt. (It was not until a recent hazy night in Echo Park that I learned it is not just a terrible pun but a slang term, sorry for being out of touch.) Then you have to be OK with videos featuring rock bands faux-playing in the squalor of the Salton Sea. And most importantly, you have to be OK with the fact that reggae rock is still a thing. Still with me? then meet Dankrupt รขโ‚ฌโ€ singer-guitarist Grant Bogorad, guitarist Enrique Paris, bassist Nick Banaszak, singer-keyboardist Derek Shields and drummer Tim Canton. They are, simply, the New Age Sublime. The L.A. quintet is releasing its “Moonlight” EP on March 13, and the song “Ghost of You” is just about Everything You’d Ever Want. There’s the drop. There’s a rap verse, courtesy of Johnny Love. There’s a pop chorus. And at 3:43 there’s a shreddy guitar solo that, unless the ears are failing me, is preceded by a swell of strings. Holy mother of Marley. Director Adam Tyree’s video piles it on too, featuring actors Stuart Campbell* and Marina Bruzadin. Just don’t pay attention to Shields’ fingers too much.

* Corrected: An earlier of this post mistakenly identified the actor as Tim Canton, who was the video’s producer.


dankrupt