Granted, 2020 was pretty infuriating. However, music-wise, we’ve been gifted some of the best songs we’ve heard in the last 10 years. Today’s record is one of those. With a cool upbeat tempo, a voice to remember, lyrics to analyze, energy to indulge in, Randy Savage Would Be Disappointed by Cheer Up Dusty is proof of positive rock music being alive and kicking. As you’ll soon discover, the guys at Cheer Up Dusty brilliantly manage to assuage some dark topics with their joyous delivery. You’re welcome.
First and foremost props for the cool lyric video. Seems like few artists prioritize them anymore. So we’re grateful when someone does! The blurry effect, the gray color scheme, the doubt-inducing font, the shaky camera movement, all excellently align to enhance the audience’s experience of Randy Savage Would Be Disappointed. A good lyric video is a power move from an upcoming artist.
The first thirty seconds of the instrumental are led on by the puissant guitar and stubborn, eclectic drums. It’s already as promising as it could get. The voice you’re hearing at about 30 seconds in is that of Justin Humenik, aka Dusty. “I’ve been locked inside of my own head/ Feeling quarantined from birth until I’m dead/ As they’re all fighting about who started it/ Replace our leaders with some who are fit” – what did we just witness? With the utmost surprise, we’re realizing this record is far from its jocular title and cartoonish cover artwork! It’s a brooding, serious, relevant 2020 narrative.
Then we get what sounds likes a fine pre-chorus: “Eight-thirty it’s time to clean/ All the sadness down Broad street/ Sweeping kneedles and baggies despair/ Some frustrations I wanted to share”. The beauty of Dusty’s voice shines through as it presents itself as a warm mix between a tenor and baritone register. He’s a good vocalist and a skilled performer being able to almost fool the audience into thinking this is all for fun. Justin seems to take emotional refuge in the irony of using bitter lyrics on sweet rock music. And we call it sweet because Randy Savage Would Be Disappointed is 2000s rock music masterfully transposed to 20 years later.
Cheer Up Dusty pulls another number on the listener and just when you were expecting to hear some crazy hook, we get music only instead! It is the same section from the beginning and it feels like home. This snippet is filled with the ever-so-suggestive guitar that carries the chorus weight on its back. It’s at this moment that the guitar and drums tandem becomes crucial for the tune. We can say with certainty the guys at Cheer Up Dusty are musicians of great precision that treat their music as an object of art, making it speak to the audience with or without a vocal track.
The second part of Randy Savage Would Be Disappointed confronts depression head-on: “I’m so bored please help me out of this hell/ So confused how aren’t you?/ Help me out of this hell/ In a loop of the same damn day/ no knowledge of the month of May/ Traumatic the need to forget it all/ Moment of weakness we’re too big to fall” To help you understand the meaning of it all, Justin Humenik shared for Blue Rhymez Entertainment: “The name of the song came from a text between me, Dusty, and our bassist Patty. We didn’t want to name it “quarantine” or anything generic so we chose that. Randy would be disappointed in all of us during this pandemic.”
Cheer Up Dusty applied some serious delicacy and care in creating Randy Savage Would Be Disappointed, as combining two polar opposites, cheerful music and somber lyrics, in one singularity is work of the greatest only.
Song Credits: Justin Humenik (Dusty), Nick Silvidio – producers, songwriters.
Make sure you add this masterpiece to your playlists on Deezer HERE, on Amazon HERE, on Apple Music HERE, and on Spotify below:
Written by Mariana Berdianu
Blue Rhymez Entertainment ©2020
Blue Rhymez Entertainment 