Minneapolis outfit Dead History returns with “Good Buddy,” the first single and video from their upcoming sophomore LP Departures, available June 6 through Landland Colportage. The track lands officially on streaming platforms May 2, with the performance video directed by Patti Rhodes premiering May 1, filmed at Cloudland Theater in Minneapolis. The band will play that same venue live on May 3.
Departures follows the band’s 2021 self-titled debut, which earned press from outlets like SPIN, Stereogum, Paste, and No Echo, with comparisons to Jawbox, Quicksand, and Swervedriver. While that first record leaned on older material, Departures is entirely collaborative.
“With the first record, almost half the songs originated from riffs I’d come up with 20 years ago,” says guitarist and founding member Matthew Rezac. “For Departures, we’d all been together for a few years, and everything was written collaboratively by jamming in real time. I think the result is the sound of a band coming into its own, with all five of our distinct personalities shining through.”
Rezac is joined by Brad Senne on vocals, Brock Specht on guitar, John McEwen on bass and backing vocals, and David Jarnstrom on drums. Between them, they’ve played in Gratitude, Align, Picturesque, Floodplain, Rad Owl, Reach, Story of the Sea, and Book of Dead Names. The band’s collective background spans post-hardcore, punk, and indie scenes across the Upper Midwest.
“There is a wide variety of moods on Departures,” says Senne. “The emphasis on dynamics, the light and shade, is much more pronounced. The songs are more cinematic, more expansive, more ambitious—and there’s a greater focus on melody and harmony throughout. We definitely set out to not repeat ourselves.”
“We really wanted to explore the full spectrum of what was available to us with a singer as versatile as Brad,” adds Jarnstrom. “Brad can howl with the best of them, but he can also make you break down and cry. Departures has our most beautiful and our most brutal material—sometimes all in the same track. There’s moments where you can hear a pin drop, and times when it sounds like the sun is exploding.”
“Good Buddy” exemplifies that range. The song builds on the melodic elements hinted at in earlier tracks like “Empty Eyes,” while still grounded in the band’s dense rhythmic backbone. Rezac’s delay-laced riff gives the track its jangly core, weaving around Senne’s reflective vocal delivery. McEwen and Jarnstrom lock in tightly, with syncopated motion driving the verse sections. Specht’s guitar solo and harmonic color add contrast without pushing the track into excess.
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The band once again worked with Jacob Carlson (Motion City Soundtrack) for mixing duties and for tracking drums and bass at Defhaus Studios in Lauderdale, MN. Vocals were engineered by Kris Johnson (Jayhawks, Soul Asylum) at Blue Moon Studios in St. Paul, while Eric Olsen (Dillinger Four) tracked guitars at NoWare Media in downtown Minneapolis. David Gardner (Rocket From the Crypt, The Hold Steady) handled mastering in Los Angeles.
The “Good Buddy” video, directed and edited by Patti Rhodes with cinematography by Adam Olson and lighting from Ryan Witte, captures the band’s live energy in a tightly framed performance at Cloudland Theater—an intimate glimpse into the dynamic shifts and emotional detail Departures sets out to explore.
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Dead History will celebrate the release with a hometown show at Cloudland Theater on May 3. Limited edition vinyl for Departures is now available for mail order via the band’s and Landland’s Bandcamp pages.
